Few documentaries are as consistently engaging as The Whale.
The film, produced and narrated by actor Ryan Reynolds, focused on the story of Luna, a killer whale who takes up residence in bay in Western Canada.
The whale’s choice of a new home proves problematic and thrilling. Orcas are social creatures by nature. They normally stay with family all of their lives in pods, communities that roam the seas depending on the season.
Call Luna, as he became to be known, a free spirit because he chooses a life of near solitude and discovery in the bay as opposed to staying with his family. That odd part of his existence in the area is that he chooses to interact with the people who work on the body of water and who use it for recreational purposes. He practically begs for attention and affection and the people are very willing to give it to them.
And why not? Orcas are generally considered benign creatures. They are most assuredly intelligent and very social.
I don’t know about many people, but as a child I dreamed of touching or swimming with a dolphin. It’s not a huge stretch for me to have the same desire to touch a killer whale. Thankfully, I received the chance to fulfill both those dreams.
But Luna’s social desires became problematic for Canadian officials. Boats would visit just to for an opportunity to visit with the animal. The locals developed a deep fondness for him. The local Native Canadian tribe suspected the spirit of their recently deceased chief resided in the creature.
Authorities and biologists viewed all of this behavior as a detriment to the whale and tried without much success to inhibit interaction with him. Of course, Luna wasn’t about to have that.
Despite the rules, he found a way. One local woman who dared pet him even faced a court for breaking a law that prohibited interaction. As Reynolds drolly states in the movie: “Luna wasn’t called as a witness,” his way of mocking the law and provided a couple of laughs.
At its heart, as that line demonstrates, The Whale is a fun-filled journey for the family, but the movie possesses its serious moments too, asking relevant questions regarding the way humans regard the planet and other species on it.
Reynolds states that we are always looking to the heavens for signs of intelligent life. Truthfully, we ignore it here on the Earth. Humans possess a basic arrogance with respect to how we view other species. Dolphins and whales are highly intelligent creatures, but we, as a people, seem to ignore it.
When considering all of those elements, The Whale, which was produced by Eric Desatnik, a native of suburban Cleveland, is a film that informs as well as entertains, making it a documentary suitable for the entire family.
FYI: Post-film Q&A with writer/producer/director of the film, Michael Parfit following these showings: Friday, Nov. 4th 7:10 PM at the Capitol Theatre and Saturday, Nov. 5th 2:20 PM at Chagrin Cinemas
Movie: The Whale
Directors: Suzanne Chisolm and Michael Parfit
Narrator: Ryan Reynolds
Studio: Paladin Films
Rated: G
Running time: 91 minutes
George’s rating: 4-of-5 stars
Check for theaters and showtimes at Cleveland Cinemas theaters.
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