Playing With Sharks

Playing With Sharks is a 2021 documentary that chronicles the life and career of Valerie Taylor, a pioneer in marine expeditions and shark activism, along with her husband Ron Taylor and their close friend Rodney Fox. Directed by Sally Aitken, the film is an exploration of Taylor's boundless fascination with sharks and her multi-faceted relationship with these misunderstood creatures.

Playing With Sharks delves into the marine world, serving as an illuminating depiction of Taylor's long, illustrious career and her environmental advocacy. It provides a narrative that is as much about shark ecology and our relations with the animal kingdom as it is about Taylor's journey in ocean exploration. Footage from the 1950s to the present frames Taylor's story and provides a captivating visual timeline that intertwines with her growth and evolution both personally and professionally.

The narrative begins by exploring Valerie Taylor's early encounters with the sea's most feared predators. It weaves a tale of a young, free-spirited Valerie, equipped with little more than a spear-gun, daring to explore the intricate coral reefs off the coast of her native Australia. Alongside her husband Ron, the couple begin a series of groundbreaking underwater expeditions, testing the boundaries of human interaction with sharks.

Inside the vivid technicolour reefs, the Taylors adopt a hands-on approach, with Valerie expressing an almost hypnotically calm affinity for the animals. Their experience filming sharks eventually thrusts them into the limelight, most notably for their work on the classic film "Jaws." However, it's the remorse that stems from the hysteria caused by the dramatized shark attacks in the film that shapes Valerie's path toward marine conservation.

In the second half of the film, Valerie emerges as an advocate for these denizens of the ocean, starting a crusade to transform our perceptions regarding these feared creatures. Her passion for protecting sharks takes her on new adventures across the globe, from the coral reefs in Great Barrier Reef to the shark-filled waters of South Africa, tirelessly campaigning for shark conservation.

Sally Aitken employs a mixture of archival footage, interviews, underwater cinematography, and re-enactments to capture the rhythm of Valerie's life and her integral connection to the shark species. In addition, Aitken seamlessly juxtaposes Valerie's personal tale of defiance and triumph with the broader, more alarming narrative of disappearing marine ecosystems.

The film delivers a strong message about the threat of extinction facing many sharks across the world. It vividly illustrates the lasting impact of industrial fishing practices and sheds light on the devastating toll of climate change on marine habitats. The film’s poignant and urgent ecological consciousness is thus inextricably bound to Valerie’s personal quest to defend and protect the creatures she cherishes.

One of the most compelling aspects of Playing With Sharks is the departure from the usual sensationalist portrayals of sharks. Instead, we see them as Valerie does, beautiful and complex creatures at once graceful and powerful. The film highlights that, contrary to common belief, more humans pose a threat to sharks than the other way around, perpetuated by a lack of understanding and global indifference.

Playing With Sharks is much more than just another sensational shark documentary. It’s an intimate profile of a woman whose pioneering efforts in underwater filmmaking and advocacy have had a lasting impact on our relationship with the world's oceans and its inhabitants.

As a rich tapestry of underwater adventure, ecological urgency, and personal discovery, the film delivers a fresh perspective not only on shark documentaries but also on the human relationship with the natural world.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Playing With Sharks is its call to action, an urgent plea for the protection of our vulnerable marine ecosystems. It reminds us of the pressing need not only to admire the beauty of nature but, most importantly, to respect and protect it. This homage to one of the ocean's most misunderstood creatures and the woman who dedicated her life to their understanding and conservation is as navigated by an enigmatic protagonist, Valerie Taylor. The film is an appeal for us to reconsider our relationships with other earth's denizens, urging empathy in our understanding of the natural world that we share with these magnificent creatures.