In one of the many scenes of shark finning, a large animal is shown being hauled up onto the the deck of a boat. As it struggles two jovial smiling men hold it down, slice off all of its fins and kick it back into the water. The shark flails about as it tries desperately to swim and eventually sinks and drowns. It is a difficult and heart-wrenching scene to watch that evokes both pity and indignation.
While it seemed utterly hopeless and depressing at some points, the documentary did end on a somewhat promising note. Great protests are shown on the streets of Punta Reina as Costa Ricans demonstrated their outrage at this barbaric practice.
I asked Stewart if he believed there was still hope for sharks. "Yes I think there's hope. We can accomplish great things when we want to. I mean, we've come so far on things like gender equality and human rights and look at what we did to save the whales! If the public gets behind this NOW, then we can change things for the better!"
Stewart's first movie is slick, gripping, and utterly riveting thanks to skilled editing and an amazing soundtrack. This film has "flash" and it has Rob Stewart himself (who happens to be very good looking) as the secondary star attraction. When you're competing with blockbuster popcorn flicks while trying to bring attention to such an important issue, it doesn't hurt to have an uber cool passionate spokesperson. "I've been trying to get people to listen to me talking about sharks for years, I love talking about them."
Sharkwater, I say confidently again, is a devastatingly beautiful film.
Sharkwater opens November 2 in 20 major markets including Los Angeles and New York.
Article comments
1 - C.R.
Wow..., I am so shocked at the 90% decline of sharks...because of Soup...I want to scream at the level of stupidity..
Beautiful writing...heartfelt & very convincing,
CR
2 - Nathalie
CR
Wow you read the who series! Thanks! Read next week's articles. I'll go into greater detail about the horrible waster that goes on out there. Pretty scary.
Nat
3 - PK
Thanks for the great review of Sharkwater. My daughter is a huge fan of sharks (like yourself) and wants very badly to see the movie. Especially after Rob Stewart visited her school to talk about shark conservation. I've been on the fence about letting her see it. I think now I'll make sure to get it on DVD so we can watch it together at home.
4 - Nathalie
PK thank you so much for saying. My kids are 7 and 9 and I was a bit worried about letting them see it too. But I thought it was an important message, so we watched it together and have since had many long talks about conservation and protecting our environment. I'm glad they saw it.
One warning, the movie shows one 30 second clip from Jaws (the part where the girl gets pulled under the water). It's meant to make a point about our misconceptions brought on by the media, but wouldn't you know it...that one scene gave my youngest nightmares. You may want to fast forward past that bit.
Enjoy the movie. It will be out on DVD in Feb/March in the US.
5 - melissa of new brunswick canada
Your doing a great job for shark conservation all over the world, keep up the great work, our side will win someday.
6 - Nathalie
Thank you so much. I'm really touched by all the great feedback I've been getting. The conversation about sharks is beginning to change and that's very encouraging.