Toronto

Sharkwater

(Documentary -- Canada)

By DAVID ROONEY

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An Alliance Atlantis release (inCanada) of a Sharkwater Prods. presentation of a Diatribe production. (International sales: Cinetic Media, New York.) Produced, directed, written by Rob Stewart. Executive producers, Brian Stewart, Sandra Campbell, Alexandra Stewart.
 

As "March of the Penguins" showed, even a finished documentary can sometimes be merely raw material. A little tightening in the editing room, a new score and fresh narration turned Warner Independent Pictures' French pickup into a commercial phenomenon among non-fiction features. "Sharkwater" won't likely repeat that feat but a similar rethink would be a strong start to secure wider exposure for its stunning underwater visuals and its persuasive advocacy of the urgent need for conservation of the ocean's top dog. In its present form, however, the film's merits are compromised by structural and conceptual flaws.

There's no questioning wildlife photographer and biologist Rob Stewart's passionate commitment, but he's also the principal problem. While the docu's subject is sharks and the indiscriminate killing of them for the lucrative shark fin market, it too often appears to have been hijacked to become about the filmmaker. Stewart's Abercrombie & Fitch surfer-dude look works fine on camera and, yes, he looks hot in a Speedo swimming with sharks. But with his droning monotone, his often prosaic observations and tendency toward self-aggrandizement (every second sentence of the narration starts with "I"), he's an irritating distraction from the main attraction.

Which is too bad because Stewart's footage (he shot the extensive underwater segs with David Hannan) is superb, its mesmerizing impact enhanced by a seductive music selection that includes Portishead, Nina Simone, Moby and Aphex Twin as well as Jeff Rona's original compositions.

From a carpet shark slinking across the reef floor to a crowd of hammerheads cruising around an undersea volcano off the Galapagos Islands, from sinuous squid to clown fish grazing on sea anemones, a fragile, luminescent seahorse or a "gentle giant" whale shark -- the startling clarity, dazzling colors and inspirational beauty of the images give them an obvious future as demo footage for high-definition technology.

While he overstates the compassionate plea to consider his misunderstood subjects as shy and sensitive, Stewart makes a reasonably convincing case for how "Jaws" and a media prone to sensationalize statistically rare attacks have inflated the shark's bad rap as a symbol of lurking danger. He also outlines how the shark's survival over millions of years while countless other species have perished underscores its essential position on the ocean's food chain. Without sharks, Stewart argues, the laws of ecology will be thrown off balance and the world's primary source of oxygen threatened.

As an eco-political inquiry, the film is compelling even if its grounding in scientific fact could be more solid. It explains how lack of adequate controls on the fishing of international waters and, in particular, the devastating effects of long-line fishing, have bred random slaughter and 90% depletion of the world's shark population.

Teaming with conservation activist Paul Watson (a potentially intriguing docu subject himself), Stewart takes on shark poachers in Guatemala and Costa Rica, leading to open-sea chases, pirate boat ramming and judicial hot water with governments corrupted by the big money in shark fins -- a delicacy favored at Chinese weddings and sold for its unproven medicinal powers. Distressing footage shows these massive creatures being butchered by fishermen for the equivalent of an ear and then tossed back into the ocean to bleed to death.

Stewart investigates the role of Taiwanese mafia in the multi-billion dollar shark fin trade, and speculates on government palms being greased to turn a blind eye to illegal fishing. More skilled editing could have maximized the suspense in this material rather than interrupting the flow by lingering over the filmmaker's hospitalization (from a flesh-eating lymphatic system infection).

While it's no match in terms of research and depth of detail, most of the elements are here for an eco-upset tale as complex and cautionary as "Darwin's Nightmare." Stewart just needs to reorganize his information and to step back and shift the focus from himself to his fascinating subject.

Camera (color, HD digital), Rob Stewart; underwater camera, Stewart, David Hannan; editors, Ric Morden, Jeremy Stuart; supervising editor, Michael Clarke; music, Jeff Rona; music supervisor, Androo Mitchell; sound, Stewart, Matt Curry; supervising sound editor/sound designer, Kevin Howard; visual research; Gina Cali. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Real to Reel), Sept. 11, 2006. Running time: 89 MIN.