The Bull and the Ban (2014) User Reviews

Insightful documentary on why cruelty of bullfighting continues

[storageman85 · 8/10 · 31 March 2014]

Being someone who is very much for animal rights, I was interested in finding out why bullfighting is still allowed to exist. I found The Bull and The Ban on distrify and its run time is about 70 minutes. For a start, this delves into the situation in Spain with regards to the ban that took place in Barcelona, which is situated within a region of Spain called Catalonia. I didn't know anything about the history of Spain so it was really insightful seeing how much politics is involved. Catalonia has its own language and lots of Catalonia people want independence from Spain, and I could see how motivations for banning bullfighting in that region were more to do with not wanting to be identified as Spanish. This is supported by the fact that other types of cruelty to bulls is still allowed as part of certain festivals there. Of the many people interviewed, there are politicians, writers, animal activists, and bullfighters, so we get a balanced range of opinions on the controversial subject and what I found great about this documentary was that even though it is barbaric and certainly antiquated, I could understand the viewpoint of the pro-bullfighting community in that it has been their livelihood for generations and they defend it in the name of tradition and Spanish identity. However, I think just because something has always been done, it does not mean it is okay to continue doing so in the name of tradition (I think I may actually be quoting someone from the film there). There will always be flamenco and the amazing Spanish cuisine anyway! Without going into the whole debate myself right now, I will just say that I found this documentary a unique and therefore valuable addition to the documentaries that exist on this subject matter. It is a sensitive issue as people are passionate on both sides of the argument, but it is handled very well here, especially coming from the point of view of a foreigner going into Spain to analyse why this is allowed to continue and why, even though anti-bullfighting feelings are building, it is still very much running in the blood of the country. If you have any interest in this subject and learning more about it with some unique insight from a variety of people then I would recommend giving this a watch. You'll come out of it realising that in reality there is a lot more involved, instead of assuming there should just be a simple straight forward decision to make a full countrywide ban. Recommended.