[Note: This review of "Pirate for the Sea" appeared in the Nevada City Advocate newspaper as part of a set of reviews for the 8th Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival.]
Paul Watson is an incomparable activist personality.He is the “Pirate for the Sea,” a revolutionary. Long lastingly so, he exhibits an undeniable package of confidence, courage, tenacity, responsibility, leadership, intelligence, and outspokenness. He is intentionally visible and seems readily accessible.
Who is Paul Watson and what is his cause?He was a significant part of the early days (1971) of Greenpeace, saving whales in international waters from governments and industries that defied global sentiment and law.In 1977 he was voted off the Greenpeace board.
Watson, skipper of the Sea Shepherd among other things, has been branded by some a terrorist, since he commands tactics that surpass harassment.He readily uses violence against property.
He makes a big distinction about his not being violent against life, as he protects the world’s largest animals from unlawful exploitation, brutality, and extinction.Nonetheless, perceptions churn that he is violent on a terrorist scale. He seems to obstruct the ultimate goal espoused by Greenpeace-style pressure.Some might fairly claim that he is constructive as a disaster-slowing counterpoint to more civil and profound commitments (and results), but Watson would likely never cop to such a back seat role. “Pirate for the Sea,” a focused film, galvanizes the save-the-whales tradition. It gets up close and personal enough with Paul Watson that you can probably decide whether you're for him, against him, or compelled to digest him as the amalgam that he is.