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Sharkwater
Warner Bros. // PG // April 8, 2008
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Many of you might have heard of sharkfin soup, a dish popularized in Asia. Did you know, however, that shark is used for nothing more than to change the texture of the soup? This, and many other intriguing facts, surfaces in Rob Stewart's award-winning documentary, Sharkwater. Don't expect all wine and roses from this piece; Stewart hits the ecological and consumerists buttons hard with his unraveling of the sharkfin industry, all the while giving us both beautiful and unsettling images to get his point across.
The Film:
Sharkwater's an evocative festival baby of a feature that spotlights photojournalist Rob Stewart's insatiable love for some of the big blue's longest-running squatters. Sharks are ancient beings that pre-date most organisms on earth, yet show very little evolutionary change. From this, Stewart has been enchanted with these creatures to such a degree that he pushed himself through school so that he could swim with and nurture them. As the audience soaks in the footage of Stewart gliding along with these overblown monsters of the sea, he gracefully shows us that he's right at home with the "bloodthirsty" sharks.
The film's title contains a nice little play on words; Sharkwater takes on the deliberate meaning of the film taking place within shark-"infested" waters, but it also refers to the tension that exists once the film shifts into its exposition of the sharkfin industry. Once we've grow to know Stewart and experience a bit of his passion, he then takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the Galapagos and Costa Rica in hunt of shark poachers. In preparation, he hooks up with Paul Watson and his environmental renegade ship, the Sea Shepherd, to set out on this voyage of cutting off shark poachers by any means necessary. It all serves as a framework for Stewart to illustrate, through some rather disheartening and shocking footage, how sharks are viewed as expendable commodities in response to their "beast"-ly stigma.
While watching Rob Stewart's environmental thriller, it wasn't some of the more obvious shark film stereotypes, like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea, which came to mind. It was the independent film Open Water, the story about how two scuba divers were stranded out in the middle of the ocean slapping around for dear life as dorsal fins ominously circled their safety zone. It portrays sharks as dangerous, sure, but it also makes them out to be the same sort of hunters as the lions that walk the Serengeti in search of a wounded gazelle. That's the kind of message Rob Stewart wants to get across in his film - that sharks are an enchanting, integral part of nature that have a hunter's instinct, but are not the natural monsters that the media makes them out to be. Once he slyly interconnects shark predation and oxygen necessities, then you know he's got a fierce point behind his crusading.
You know, with his monotone voice and unflinching rhythm, Rob Stewart isn't the most "eloquent" of narrators to grace a nature documentary. However, I encountered something interesting while listening to his story; as a photographer and biologist, he didn't have to be a world-class speaker for this project to work. His purpose with Sharkwater is to articulate gripping tidbits of oceanographic analysis, which he does, and to tell his thoroughly engrossing tale of combative litigation with the Costa Rican government, which he does quite well. His unpolished voice, interesting enough, makes the film more of an intriguingly truthful story with enough immediacy to bring a rookie filmmaker on screen to blow it all wide open.
Through splendid underwater cinematography laced within a gritty expose on shark endangerment, Sharkwater is a stunningly haunting documentary that preserves and highlights the ancient species' two inherent traits: sleek beauty, and snappish anxiety. When I came into Sharkwater, I was expecting an array of lush shots bolted on top of a flowery story that preached on the innocence and purity of these mesmerizing creatures. Stewart does this, but doesn't abuse the audience's intelligence in the process; he seems to have our already pseudo-intrigued knowledge base in mind, and then takes it a step further. He's very touch-and-go between factual information and brutally exposing images of animal cruelty, some of which will leave lasting marks on the way you view the ocean.
The only real problem with Sharkwater is the overwhelming concentration of harsh economical and environmental truth thrown at the audience's face within its 90-minute timeframe. It becomes overbearing to see how bloodthirsty these poachers and their supportive government can become, all just to push delicacy and false cancer relief on those willing to fork over the cash. After you've seen several of these relevant grating images, it gets a bit heavy-handed with the cruel depictions in the following parts of the feature. But that's a part of its goal - to unwaveringly push that message. As writer (though the "writing" is more speech worthy than script writing), producer, director, editor, cinematographer, and balls-out crusading adventurer, Rob Stewart's effort in Sharkwater is quite a substantial feat that's as poignant and enlightening to watch for an adult as a kid's first trip to the aquarium.
The DVD:
Sharkwater comes from WB in a standard keepcase presentation that features blue and black coverart with festival achievement markers spread across the top.
The Video:
Presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, Sharkwater displays all its beautiful cinematography with merely digestible visuals. The color richness and depth is there from the get-go, but plenty of digitization issues and edge enhancement creep up along the print. This isn't even considering some of Stewart's bizarre aspect ration choices; several clips are obviously 1.33:1 or similarly framed, then stretched haphazardly across the screen. Conversely, many of the splendid scenic expanses that sweep through the ocean really jump out with depth and clarity. It's an erratic film visually, with a matching DVD transfer to boot.
The Audio:
Crashing of waves, bickering voices in the background, and the sleepy narration from Stewart accentuate this rather smooth Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's a pleasant enough mix, rich with some nice rushing sounds of the ocean. Most important, of course, is Stewart's narration and the range of dialogue present in the film, which all sounds up to the challenge. English and French 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo tracks are available, as are English and French subtitles.
The Extras:
Sharkwater: Beneath the Surface - Making-of Featurette:
As the only substantial supplement on this disc, this Making-of featurette scurries around in its 16-minute timeframe to educate the viewer on Sharkwater's assembly process. Stewart and his underwater crew talk about the long days of shooting, as well as the freedom of filming underwater. More intricate details, like the breakneck editing style and marketing for the film at indie festivals, also bring to light the effort this film has exercised to see the light of day. Stewart seems to have taken his quick lift into the spotlight well, as he talks very warmly and openly throughout all his interviews. It's a nice accompanying featurette that goes even further into his life, as well as the cause he fights for.
Shark Defense:
There's a snippet of an old Air Force training video included in Sharkwater that helps to educate officers on how to repel sharks from their raft when stranded at sea; WB's been kind enough to include the full 11-minute bit. It's an entertaining watch for the first couple of minutes as it illustrates some naïve assumptions of times past, but it loses its novelty after a while.
Also included are a series of TV Spots, as well as a Trailer.
-----
Final Thoughts:
Sharkwater brings a dangerous ecological threat into light with this movingly intense and beautifully shot documentary. Rob Stewart's steady force upon the sharkfin industry can be downright engrossing, even when he tries a little too hard to illustrate the severity of the problem. It's a thrilling and emotion ride that'll beautify the image of sharks to a degree, but not to enough of a degree to make Sharkwater seem preachy or flamboyant. The technical merits could be a little stronger, sure, but what we've got here in this DVD from Warner is more than adequate. Sharkwater comes in a strongly Recommended package, especially for those with a passion for marine biology.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
The Film:
Sharkwater's an evocative festival baby of a feature that spotlights photojournalist Rob Stewart's insatiable love for some of the big blue's longest-running squatters. Sharks are ancient beings that pre-date most organisms on earth, yet show very little evolutionary change. From this, Stewart has been enchanted with these creatures to such a degree that he pushed himself through school so that he could swim with and nurture them. As the audience soaks in the footage of Stewart gliding along with these overblown monsters of the sea, he gracefully shows us that he's right at home with the "bloodthirsty" sharks.
The film's title contains a nice little play on words; Sharkwater takes on the deliberate meaning of the film taking place within shark-"infested" waters, but it also refers to the tension that exists once the film shifts into its exposition of the sharkfin industry. Once we've grow to know Stewart and experience a bit of his passion, he then takes us on a rollercoaster ride through the Galapagos and Costa Rica in hunt of shark poachers. In preparation, he hooks up with Paul Watson and his environmental renegade ship, the Sea Shepherd, to set out on this voyage of cutting off shark poachers by any means necessary. It all serves as a framework for Stewart to illustrate, through some rather disheartening and shocking footage, how sharks are viewed as expendable commodities in response to their "beast"-ly stigma.
While watching Rob Stewart's environmental thriller, it wasn't some of the more obvious shark film stereotypes, like Jaws and Deep Blue Sea, which came to mind. It was the independent film Open Water, the story about how two scuba divers were stranded out in the middle of the ocean slapping around for dear life as dorsal fins ominously circled their safety zone. It portrays sharks as dangerous, sure, but it also makes them out to be the same sort of hunters as the lions that walk the Serengeti in search of a wounded gazelle. That's the kind of message Rob Stewart wants to get across in his film - that sharks are an enchanting, integral part of nature that have a hunter's instinct, but are not the natural monsters that the media makes them out to be. Once he slyly interconnects shark predation and oxygen necessities, then you know he's got a fierce point behind his crusading.
You know, with his monotone voice and unflinching rhythm, Rob Stewart isn't the most "eloquent" of narrators to grace a nature documentary. However, I encountered something interesting while listening to his story; as a photographer and biologist, he didn't have to be a world-class speaker for this project to work. His purpose with Sharkwater is to articulate gripping tidbits of oceanographic analysis, which he does, and to tell his thoroughly engrossing tale of combative litigation with the Costa Rican government, which he does quite well. His unpolished voice, interesting enough, makes the film more of an intriguingly truthful story with enough immediacy to bring a rookie filmmaker on screen to blow it all wide open.
Through splendid underwater cinematography laced within a gritty expose on shark endangerment, Sharkwater is a stunningly haunting documentary that preserves and highlights the ancient species' two inherent traits: sleek beauty, and snappish anxiety. When I came into Sharkwater, I was expecting an array of lush shots bolted on top of a flowery story that preached on the innocence and purity of these mesmerizing creatures. Stewart does this, but doesn't abuse the audience's intelligence in the process; he seems to have our already pseudo-intrigued knowledge base in mind, and then takes it a step further. He's very touch-and-go between factual information and brutally exposing images of animal cruelty, some of which will leave lasting marks on the way you view the ocean.
The only real problem with Sharkwater is the overwhelming concentration of harsh economical and environmental truth thrown at the audience's face within its 90-minute timeframe. It becomes overbearing to see how bloodthirsty these poachers and their supportive government can become, all just to push delicacy and false cancer relief on those willing to fork over the cash. After you've seen several of these relevant grating images, it gets a bit heavy-handed with the cruel depictions in the following parts of the feature. But that's a part of its goal - to unwaveringly push that message. As writer (though the "writing" is more speech worthy than script writing), producer, director, editor, cinematographer, and balls-out crusading adventurer, Rob Stewart's effort in Sharkwater is quite a substantial feat that's as poignant and enlightening to watch for an adult as a kid's first trip to the aquarium.
The DVD:
Sharkwater comes from WB in a standard keepcase presentation that features blue and black coverart with festival achievement markers spread across the top.
The Video:
Presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, Sharkwater displays all its beautiful cinematography with merely digestible visuals. The color richness and depth is there from the get-go, but plenty of digitization issues and edge enhancement creep up along the print. This isn't even considering some of Stewart's bizarre aspect ration choices; several clips are obviously 1.33:1 or similarly framed, then stretched haphazardly across the screen. Conversely, many of the splendid scenic expanses that sweep through the ocean really jump out with depth and clarity. It's an erratic film visually, with a matching DVD transfer to boot.
The Audio:
Crashing of waves, bickering voices in the background, and the sleepy narration from Stewart accentuate this rather smooth Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation. It's a pleasant enough mix, rich with some nice rushing sounds of the ocean. Most important, of course, is Stewart's narration and the range of dialogue present in the film, which all sounds up to the challenge. English and French 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo tracks are available, as are English and French subtitles.
The Extras:
Sharkwater: Beneath the Surface - Making-of Featurette:
As the only substantial supplement on this disc, this Making-of featurette scurries around in its 16-minute timeframe to educate the viewer on Sharkwater's assembly process. Stewart and his underwater crew talk about the long days of shooting, as well as the freedom of filming underwater. More intricate details, like the breakneck editing style and marketing for the film at indie festivals, also bring to light the effort this film has exercised to see the light of day. Stewart seems to have taken his quick lift into the spotlight well, as he talks very warmly and openly throughout all his interviews. It's a nice accompanying featurette that goes even further into his life, as well as the cause he fights for.
Shark Defense:
There's a snippet of an old Air Force training video included in Sharkwater that helps to educate officers on how to repel sharks from their raft when stranded at sea; WB's been kind enough to include the full 11-minute bit. It's an entertaining watch for the first couple of minutes as it illustrates some naïve assumptions of times past, but it loses its novelty after a while.
Also included are a series of TV Spots, as well as a Trailer.
-----
Final Thoughts:
Sharkwater brings a dangerous ecological threat into light with this movingly intense and beautifully shot documentary. Rob Stewart's steady force upon the sharkfin industry can be downright engrossing, even when he tries a little too hard to illustrate the severity of the problem. It's a thrilling and emotion ride that'll beautify the image of sharks to a degree, but not to enough of a degree to make Sharkwater seem preachy or flamboyant. The technical merits could be a little stronger, sure, but what we've got here in this DVD from Warner is more than adequate. Sharkwater comes in a strongly Recommended package, especially for those with a passion for marine biology.
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