At the Edge of the World

 

Story:

In director Dan Stone's documentary, Canadian activist Paul Watson and his team from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society take aggressive steps to stop Japanese fishing ships from hunting whales. With a two-boat fleet and a helicopter for filming the whalers from the air, Watson and his crew of international volunteers use industrial-strength can openers, stink bombs and other unconventional combat gear to disable offending ships (NetFlix).

Review:

'Canadian activist' is a phrase that any film producer would immediately be turned off to… well, the comedy genre might be interested.  So it is perfectly reasonable for any documentary enthusiast to be skeptical of At The Edge of The World.   They shouldn’t be though.  It is easy to see why Dan Stone’s film has inspired an entire TV series, Whale Wars.    

Unlike most activist documentaries, this is not meant to beg audiences to donate and write to their local politicians, no, Stone shows that not all hippies are afraid to kick ass and take names.  Need proof?  

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been accused of eco-terrorism and no country grants it access to fly under its flag- that means this whale-loving crew is labeled as ‘pirate’.  That’s right, pirate.  And this stigma isn’t just embraced by the crew, it’s embraced by the filmmakers as well and it shows in the production quality and the way interviews and moments are captured.  Like the Discovery Channels’ Deadliest Catch, there is a certain level of trust between crew and cameraman and it results in a more honest film.    

Unlike Deadliest Catch, there is no narrator to guide audiences along the journey.  Though this allows viewers to feel closer to the personalities, it prevents them for understanding the characters more and it certainly doesn’t help to clear up storyline confusion.  A rescue effort in particular becomes a jumbled mess until the very end and the actual ship battles seem a little disjointed and confusing.    

Even without a narrator though, At The Edge of The World is a great documentary with some breathtaking visuals and astounding camerawork.  It’s difficult enough to capture events live as they happen, but to do so while rocking back and forth, avoiding a crew trying to ultimately sink opposing ships and enduring freezing temperatures sounds nearly impossible.  As such, whatever minor faults one would find with their work should certainly be overlooked.  

Director Dan Stone should also be praised for turning a couple months long shoot with few action sequences into an engaging documentary that keeps audiences interested.  Though, again, the lack of a narrator is aggravating, his ability to sift through hundreds of hours of tape to develop a relatively cohesive story is certainly astounding.  Does one leave the theater exclaiming they’ve witnessed a groundbreaking film?  No, but they will more than likely offer up a fair amount of ‘man points’ to those hippies brave enough to turn their love of animals into cold, hard rage towards an illegal industry. 

Reviewed by Matthew Abshire for Documentary Film Online on May 04, 2009

In Conclusion: