Yesterday Take Part passed along a report by Ric O’Barry, the haunted star of The Cove, that Taiji officials have at least temporarily decided not to move ahead on the annual dolphin slaughter. O’Barry is in Taiji and wrote on 9.1 that he’s seen no fishing boats, no fishermen, no harpoons…nothing.

Great, but does anyone believe this is really the end of it? Not I. Maybe the bad guys have simply decided to kill the dolphins in some other cove in some other nearby town? And surely the Taiji fishing industry will at least continue to round up dolphins for sale to marine tourist parks? Most people involved in nefarious enterprises (a) are essentially amoral in matters of income and (b) don’t give up their meal tickets this easily.

This reminded me of the situation facing director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu regarding his decision to serve as jury president at the forthcoming Tokyo Film Festival in lieu of the festival’s decision, despite its “green” theme, not to show The Cove. On 8.18 I passed along Peter Howell‘s Toronto Star 8.5 report that the a festival official had told Cove director Louie Psihoyos that Tokyo wasn’t taking The Cove “for political reasons.”

In lieu of O’Barry’s report I’m wondering if anything has shaken loose. Will the Tokyo Film Festival show The Cove after all or…? This is a story that needs an ending.