The Cove is a documentary with a mission impossible: Save the dolphins from murderous human beings. In this case, the humans are Japanese and from a town called Taiji where thousands of dolphins are slaughtered by pitiless fishermen. The documentary has this as its dark core: There is no economic need to kill the dolphins. Ending the practice will only put a few people out of work. So why does the government continue to support it? Because it is considered to be a cultural right. The Japanese are maintaining the bloody practice for the sake of maintaining their Japaneseness. (See Movie Times: thestranger.com/film.)