Roughly
three years ago, cinematographer/documentary filmmaker Richard Ladkani teamed
up with Netflix to make the wildlife documentary film The Ivory Game which
presented activists fighting off poachers to quell illegal ivory trade in
Africa. Now with the help of National
Geographic, Ladkani has redirected his focus upon the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, in
Sea of Shadows, where the cartel and illegal trade of totoaba fish threatens
the existence of the endangered species of porpoise, the Vaquita. With as few as fifteen vaquita left swimming
in the world, a team of scientists, conservationists and the Mexican navy work
tirelessly to try and deter the illegal totoaba fishing while exposing deeply
ingrained corruption within the Mexican police force and the military.
Reteaming
with executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, Ladkani and his two co-directors
Sean Bogle and Matthew Podolsky have fashioned a tense documentary saturated in
implacable danger as the efforts to thwart the poachers amid police corruption
proves far more difficult than meets the eye.
Photographed in panoramic widescreen by Ladkani, Sea of Shadows presents
a criminal operation spanning the globe going all the way back to China. Meanwhile efforts are undertaken to try and
provide a sanctuary for the rarely glimpsed vaquita who until this documentary
haven’t been recorded on film before.
Partially
an undercover crime investigation thriller, partially a nature documentary
highlighting a next to unknown species of porpoise, Sea of Shadows frequently
alternates between the two disparate subjects while also leaving ample room for
opposing argument from legitimate fisherman who have taken a heavy blow with
the ban on illegal gillnets. Some of the
tensest moments are shot entirely in night vision with some unexpected and
dangerous encounters with poachers seeking violent confrontation. There’s also a wealth of drone photography tailing
the poachers who at one point shoot down a hovering drone.
Sea
of Shadows will
fill many with righteous indignation as an openly violent crime syndicate
threatens the survival of a species of porpoise for all time, all the while
highlighting the tensions that come with policing an ocean of illegal
poaching. Others will also come away
frustrated the film doesn’t offer much of a solution to the overarching problem
and a heartbreaking encounter with a vaquita begs the question whether or not
the conservation efforts are more harmful than helpful. As it stands, the film concerns a section of
the world involving the exploitation/protection of a species I knew nothing
about previously. In the end, Sea of
Shadows is a strong documentary that will make you think twice about the
fragility of the world we live in.
--Andrew Kotwicki