Blackfish

Like many I guess, I've seen and considered myself entertained by the sea creatures at Sea World. I was aware of the death of one of the trainers at one of these shows from some years ago but put it down to being an occupational hazard, a tragic but accidental death. This well-made, provocative documentary takes that sad story as its starting point and digs deeper, painting up a tawdry tale of greed, deception and apparent wilful abandonment of care by the named entertainment company, which significantly declined to comment on any of the major accusations lodged here.

From the horrible death of the female trainer in 2010, caught on video, but mercifully cut before she is actually killed, the production traces back the story of the only too well named killer whale and its history of previous attacks on other trainers, caused, allegedly by years of mistreatment of the animal. Sea World's part in a similar European tragedy involving the death of a Spanish trainer only adds to the charge sheet.

A host of former trainers now recanting their previously parroted company-speak of how well the animals are treated is a particularly effective device, but there's much good detective work besides. Most of all, the film isn't afraid to point the finger at the multimillion dollar corporation Sea World and while I hesitate to come to a judgement without the accused exercising the right of reply, it's hard not to conclude that this was an accident, if that's the correct word, waiting to happen.

The film is happy to confine its aim to Sea World alone, but I'm sure I'm not alone in reconsidering my position on the capture and training of animals for our entertainment not only in water parks, but also of course in circuses and zoos.

A sad, sobering, look into an unacceptable mode of entertainment which has surely had its day.

This is a thought-provoking documentary on Tilikum, an Orca that has been at Sea World since 1983 and who is responsible for the death of 3 people (2 of his trainers, and 1 man who snuck into his tank). This is a film about the horrors that these animals go through being kept in captivity for our pleasure and the latest film to showcase how horrible Sea World can be for the very animals it claims to protect, oh the irony.

If you thought watching 'The Cove' was difficult, I suggest you take tissues if you plan on seeing this. 2 days later and I still can't stop thinking about this movie or get rid of some of the images and sounds shown.

I highly recommend this doc. Go see it with an open mind, I guarantee that you will never see captivity the same way again.

"If you were in a bathtub for 25 years, don't you think you'd get a little psychotic?!"

First, that's a great documentary: it beautifully combines Herzog's "Grizzly Man" thrilling, escalating tension of how things go wrong when humans misinterpret their relation with nature with Achbar & Abbott's "The Corporation" sharp examination of modern-day companies.

Second, it is aesthetically captivating and pleasant to follow. Cowperthwaite's reconstructs the narrative leading to the final, and fatal, encounter of Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau, alternating footage, both in the wild and in aquariums, with interviews and contextual data.

Finally, it is a work that, without ever abandoning neutrality, serves a mostly noble cause: that against the confinement of animals that are intelligent, social, and set to crisscross oceans, not to be kept in tanks.

My hope is that, by being such a fine piece of art, it also helps change the industry of marine-life entertainment theme parks.

So "Blackfish" is a big splash in more than one way! Go watch it.

This year is already shaping up to be a great one for documentaries and Blackfish is quickly earning the reputation of being the most essential. And it absolutely deserves it. Although its an emotionally charged argument, there's a rational logic behind it. Every time there's found footage of killer whale incidents it's utterly gut-wrenching and you can't help but dread the moments that inevitably shook the world when they could've been prevented. Fortunately, the filmmakers find a different way to present the footage each time and it keeps it from feeling repetitive and builds to feeling more heart breaking at every turn. In its use of talking head interviews with former trainers, it ends up genuinely dramatic without feeling melodramatic as many documentaries can. It oozes with passion for the creatures which helps enforce its argument against their treatment, not just for better protection for trainers, but for corporations like SeaWorld to not turn a blind eye at the clear injustice they've cased. What's the moral cost of the business and entertainment? I certainly won't ever be able to be entertained by animal acts without thinking about Blackfish. Thisis an extremely powerful documentary that's brilliantly structured, tragic and cinematic. More than worth your time.

8/10

I had heard about this film long before I got to seeing it; there are a couple of very liberal media outlets that I use and this film was very much promoted on them – so I had heard good things but was conscious that it was maybe from an easy audience sector. Anyway, I knew enough about it to be pretty sure that we wouldn't be hearing much from Seaworld in the film itself and indeed at the end it is confirmed that they refused to be interviewed for this film. Many have pointed out that this makes the film rather one-sided, but personally I do not think that having an official Seaworld presence in the film would have made much of a difference to that and to be honest it is probably for the best that they didn't get involved.

I say this because, although it is not too unfair or aggressive, the film really is a polemic rather a passive documentary; the case is made in a systematic and effective fashion, building the case and it does it in a way that is really hard to not be affected by. The film is at its best when it is as much of a documentary as it can be – so informing the viewer of the nature of orca whales in the wild, their community and their connections, because this then informs us about the actions taken to separate families from one another – and like the massive butch guy who can barely talk about doing it, it is hard not to be really moved by the idea and the reality. Other such contrasts are well done, such as the statements on lifespan etc, however the film doesn't always do it as well.

Relating to the older actions (and the illegal ones in particular), the film is a bit unfair to present these next to a silent Seaworld – I know they are not involved but it would have been nice to hear the film confirm if they had ever admitted wrong doing etc. Just mentioning it and moving on makes it look like it was gotten away with, never addressed looking back etc. The interviews with the ex-trainers are all pretty engaging and emotive but there is a lot of personal statement and issues-driven passion in there; this is fine but it means the film has to do a bit to make sure it remains a documentary – I think it could have done more in that regard.

These are flaws in the film as a documentary but even with these it is hard to really take the subject and conclusions to issue. It builds its case well, presenting the base of cruelty and the impact to trainers and animals of the Seaworld shows. It does push too far to one side and it doesn't really give you food for thought so much as conclusions, but it is an impacting film and it is hard for me to really take issue with what it is saying even if I had reservations over how it says it.