My first SLIFF film of the year was The Islands and the Whales. The preview set the movie up as a clash between Faroe Islanders and the Sea Shepherds, an activist group whose stated goal is to protect the oceans and the animals who live in it (sort of like The Cove, except that it was about dolphins in Japan).That really wasn't the case. The heart of the story was the conflict between the Faroese people. There is a local doctor who is alerting the islanders to the dangers of whale meat (and meat from sea birds, which the islanders also catch and eat), specifically the high concentration of mercury. He is trying to educate the people on the dangers this causes, and encouraging them to eat less whale meat.
On the other side of the fight are stubbornness and traditions. The islanders are a traditional people, and their all-hands-on-deck style of whale hunting dates back generations. They live on desolate, rocky outcroppings off the north coast of Scotland, about halfway between Iceland and Norway. Not much produce will grow there, and it's a long way from anywhere. They depend on the whales and sea birds, whose meat makes up a substantial portion of their diet.
Though the film has an obvious perspective, it doesn't settle on anything. It did, however, leave me with a lot of reading to do. More on that in my next post.
Bottom line: beautiful shots of the desolate landscape make the conflict all the more understandable.
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