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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:11,120 In Ireland, a place of refuge turns into a house of horrors. 2 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,800 All hell broke loose. There were bodies everywhere. 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,480 It was appalling. And it was totally unnecessary. 4 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:25,120 A weird and wonderful fantasyland in the heart of Alabama. 5 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,320 Everybody loves it so much, they don't even wear shoes, 6 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,920 as a symbol that they never want to leave. 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:38,240 In South Korea, the fate of a nation is determined behind these walls. 8 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:43,040 They were trapped, cut off from the outside world, 9 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,960 but would fight to the death for democracy. 10 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,960 And on the Namibian coast, the chilling evidence of a trade 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,800 the world could not have lived without. 12 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,800 Today, we see it as a cruel and brutal industry, 13 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,680 but it was lucrative enough to bring people 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,160 to even the most desolate and inhospitable places. 15 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:13,720 Decaying relics. 16 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,000 Ruins of lost worlds. 17 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,760 Sites haunted by the past. 18 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,560 Their secrets waiting to be revealed. 19 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:41,400 In County Cork, on Ireland's southern coast, 20 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,400 are haunting remnants of a tragic era. 21 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,880 The area's covered in lush green hills 22 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,640 and pristine beaches. 23 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,640 There's a reason this country is called the Emerald Isle. 24 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:03,560 Yet the land's natural beauty hides a painful history. 25 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:07,600 On the outskirts of a small town 26 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,480 are the sprawling remains of a stone complex. 27 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,000 You can still see these imposing walls, 28 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,800 but the overgrowth has almost entirely reclaimed these buildings. 29 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,600 The crumbling relic reveals little about its original purpose. 30 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,840 When this was built, the country was in the grips 31 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:34,240 of a horrible catastrophe - partly natural, partly manmade. 32 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,440 I still imagine those poor people coming up 33 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,320 knowing what their fate was going to be behind these walls - 34 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,920 that they'd never come out again. 35 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:43,640 Additional ruins expose a different chapter 36 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:45,920 of this heartbreaking story. 37 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:47,960 The structure of a wall 38 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,720 and a tall, dark building with the windows boarded up. 39 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,000 How are all these structures connected 40 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:55,640 and what happened here? 41 00:02:55,640 --> 00:02:57,440 This became the epicentre 42 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,800 of one of the worst crises in Ireland's history. 43 00:03:06,920 --> 00:03:11,120 The first time I came here, I wasn't ready for it. 44 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,280 I could actually feel the sorrow seeping out through the walls, 45 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,520 and it really did have a profound impact on me. 46 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:22,160 Terri Kearney grew up in the nearby town of Skibbereen. 47 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:25,280 She's dedicated her life to preserving the memory 48 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,120 of a tragedy many in Ireland wanted to forget. 49 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,600 For 150 years, Ireland really did forget. 50 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,680 You know, it wasn't spoken about. It's called the Great Silence. 51 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,280 So, these places are really, really important 52 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,320 as a physical manifestation of over a million dead. 53 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,720 I always describe it as a prison environment. 54 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,080 But this was no prison. 55 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,120 During the 19th century, 56 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,760 thousands of desperate people came here by choice 57 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:57,680 because their only other option was an agonising death. 58 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,400 They were surrounded by high stone walls. 59 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,520 When you went in, you had to go in as a family. 60 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:05,960 You were segregated - men, women, boys, girls. 61 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:08,880 You weren't allowed to see the other members of your family. 62 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,080 And they put them doing degrading, demeaning work - 63 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,720 breaking stones or pushing a wheel. 64 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,960 This is the Schull workhouse, 65 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,840 the government's answer for a population in dire straits. 66 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,480 The workhouse was an institution in Ireland. 67 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:33,080 At their peak, there were over 160 of them. 68 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,240 It was really a last resort for the poorest families. 69 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,120 If you couldn't support yourself, 70 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,720 you could come to a workhouse 71 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,880 and receive food and shelter for your labour. 72 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,120 The workhouse system, funded by local taxes, 73 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:48,720 was first put in place by the British government 74 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,080 in the late 1830s. 75 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,800 When they opened, the conditions were so bad, 76 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,680 the workhouses were rarely full. 77 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:58,760 But, by the 1840s, 78 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,360 buildings like this all across Ireland 79 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,040 were filled to capacity. 80 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,200 The reason for the increased demand 81 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:09,800 dates back to when the English invaded these shores. 82 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:15,200 The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in the 17th century, 83 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,040 and the system of landlords and tenants that was put in place, 84 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,360 created a precarious situation amongst Irish farmers. 85 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:29,160 The Penal Law of 1704 dictated that, when an Irish tenant farmer died, 86 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,360 his land should be equally divided among his sons. 87 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,400 As the population continued to grow, 88 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:42,080 this farmland got subdivided into smaller and smaller plots. 89 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,800 As a consequence, these farmers 90 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,160 turned to the one crop that, 91 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,040 even in that limited space, 92 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,160 could feed a whole family - the potato. 93 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,000 Ireland's reliance on a single food source 94 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:58,680 would prove to be fatal. 95 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:01,800 In 1845, 96 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:04,960 a blight that had been travelling around North America and Europe 97 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,920 landed on Irish shores, and the potato crop was decimated. 98 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,000 Somewhere between a quarter and a third of the crop failed. 99 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,840 And we'd had multiple failures of the crops here before - 100 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:18,120 one in 1817 and one in 1822 - 101 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,640 so people around here were well used to failures, 102 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,240 and they thought, "One year. We just need to get over one year." 103 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:29,120 But the next year, the situation only got worse. 104 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:33,760 In 1846, there was a 90% failure of the crop. 105 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,400 The poor farming region of West Cork was one of the hardest-hit areas, 106 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,080 and the town of Skibbereen became ground zero 107 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:46,320 in the Great Potato Famine. 108 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,120 By 1846, people were dying in this town 109 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,400 and society was breaking down. 110 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:55,440 Death by starvation is a long, slow, painful disease, 111 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,480 and it robbed their humanity. 112 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,280 A local doctor named Daniel Donovan 113 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,680 witnessed the tragedy that was unfolding, 114 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:06,560 and he stepped in to be a champion for the people. 115 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:13,120 Oh, Dr Dan was an extraordinary man. He was qualified as a surgeon. 116 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,240 He could have gone off to Dublin and had a very illustrious career. 117 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,520 Instead, he stayed here in Skibbereen 118 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,960 during this worst catastrophe. 119 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,920 He did so much to help people. 120 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,360 He wrote and looked for help, screamed for help. 121 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:30,960 His efforts brought Skibbereen's plight 122 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,560 to the world's attention 123 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,000 when horror stories describing the suffering 124 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:40,240 were published in British newspapers just before Christmas 1846. 125 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,920 So, people were sitting down to their big meal 126 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:44,920 and they read about people in their own country, 127 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,920 as it was, starving to death. 128 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,200 The British Relief Association was set up shortly afterwards, 129 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,280 and that brought £400,000 worth of aid into Ireland. 130 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,480 Everyone from the Sultan of Turkey to the Indian Relief Fund 131 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,640 started to send money to Ireland. 132 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:00,720 The old mill building in town 133 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,080 was hastily converted into a makeshift soup kitchen 134 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:05,920 to feed the hungry. 135 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,360 The relief effort embarrassed British politicians. 136 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,720 Here was the world's greatest empire 137 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,240 becoming reliant on external aid to help its people. 138 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:17,800 Now in the spotlight, 139 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:21,240 the government was forced to offer support. 140 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,480 In 1847, the Soup Kitchen Act was passed 141 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,960 and, within months, 3 million Irish people were being fed. 142 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,080 They served a concoction of barley, water, 143 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,960 beef, and onions, known as Soyer's soup. 144 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,280 It was nothing fancy, 145 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,360 but it gave people just enough calories to survive. 146 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,120 Charles Trevelyan, Assistant Secretary to the Treasury, 147 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:48,560 was the man in charge of Britain's relief efforts. 148 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,160 His political and personal views 149 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,280 dictated the government's initial reluctance to help. 150 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,960 Charles Trevelyan was a subscriber of the laissez-faire policy, 151 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:04,360 which is government noninterference in economic matters. 152 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,600 That meant that, in the middle of the famine, 153 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,800 food was being exported out of Ireland, 154 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,200 even as millions continued to starve. 155 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,360 Trevelyan infamously wrote that 156 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,400 the famine had been brought about by God 157 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,520 as a judgement on Ireland's excessive population growth 158 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,160 and dependency on the potato for food. 159 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,880 Even today, he's a hated figure across Ireland. 160 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,400 It's not hard to see why. 161 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,120 Only three months after crucial, life-saving aid was given, 162 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,360 it was swiftly taken away. 163 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,520 In 1847, a financial crisis hit Britain 164 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,000 and they withdrew entirely their support 165 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:46,880 for the Soup Kitchen Act. 166 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:50,000 The consequences were devastating. 167 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,600 From the autumn, the only relief thereon 168 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,320 was through the workhouse system. 169 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,720 All hell broke loose. It really did. 170 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,920 It was the worst year of the Great Famine. 171 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,080 And it was totally unnecessary. 172 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,200 In Skibbereen, the existing workhouse, 173 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:12,600 all but demolished today apart from its outer wall, 174 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,520 was unable to cope with the sheer number of destitute people. 175 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:18,720 When the Skibbereen workhouse was full, 176 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,440 a new one was opened in the neighbouring town of Schull 177 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:22,720 to take the pressure off. 178 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,800 So, this Schull workhouse was one of the later workhouses, 179 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,120 built in the late 1840s, early 1850s. 180 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,120 Horrible, horrible places. 181 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:35,360 During the Great Famine, they were so overcrowded and underfunded. 182 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,400 They kept running out of food. 183 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,240 They were breeding grounds for disease. 184 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:44,840 The awful truth was that families often didn't come here to live, 185 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:46,400 they came to die. 186 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:50,400 Catholic families came to workhouses 187 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,360 because they knew they would get a properly consecrated burial. 188 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,400 And so many accounts of that - 189 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,440 people clamouring at the workhouse walls, 190 00:10:58,440 --> 00:10:59,680 just wanting to get in, 191 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:02,520 so they knew they wouldn't be left to rot at the side of the road. 192 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,920 At Skibbereen's Abbeystrowry Cemetery 193 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:13,320 are the unmarked graves of over 10,000 people - 194 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:16,120 a small fraction of the total death toll. 195 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:19,920 These mass graves are all over Ireland. 196 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,040 Overall, it's estimated we lost about a million people 197 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:27,560 and about another million and a quarter emigrated. 198 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:30,480 It was the biggest mass migration in world history. 199 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:37,320 By the mid-1850s, the potato crop had almost fully recovered 200 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,200 and the dependence on workhouses steadily declined. 201 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:46,040 The famine may have ended, but its legacy had only just begun. 202 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,160 I suppose you could say the events of this era 203 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,720 would eventually lead to Irish independence, too, 204 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:05,320 because some of those who survived were violently changed by it 205 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,480 and became revolutionaries with arms. 206 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,560 Their fight for freedom would eventually bring about 207 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:13,520 this building's demise. 208 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:15,120 During the War of Independence, 209 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,600 the Irish Republican Army burned the workhouse to the ground 210 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,800 to prevent it being used as barracks by the British forces. 211 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:26,680 Since then, it's become dilapidated and overgrown, 212 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:30,680 a ghostly reminder of the country's most dire period. 213 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,680 In Central Alabama is a curious collection of buildings 214 00:12:40,680 --> 00:12:43,480 where reality collides with fantasy. 215 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,840 A short distance north of the capital, Montgomery, 216 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,440 is a place called Jackson Lake Island. 217 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,440 And it's small - I mean, less than a half a mile across. 218 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,560 It's really beautiful, but also kind of spooky. 219 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:07,080 At the end of the island is what looks like 220 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:10,360 this abandoned, desolate town. 221 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,000 There's something old about it, 222 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,360 but something kind of otherworldly, too. 223 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:17,920 As you get closer to these buildings, 224 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:20,760 you realise there's something really odd about them. 225 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,760 There's nothing inside. In fact, some of them aren't even finished. 226 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:28,800 At the town's entrance, the plot thickens. 227 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,960 There's these two trees that frame the street, 228 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:35,640 but if you look closer, 229 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:37,840 you can actually tell that they're fake, 230 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,160 like where the bark is wearing away, there's Styrofoam. 231 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,480 So, this is not actually a real place. 232 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:46,240 It's a place of complete make-believe. 233 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,240 Everything seen here 234 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:52,040 is the creation of a visionary with a wild imagination. 235 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,280 For the man behind it, it was a big gamble. 236 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:57,840 I mean, he needed a win, 237 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,800 and there was no guarantee that this was going to be it. 238 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:03,520 It's a magical story. 239 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,920 Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's sad, 240 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,640 and sometimes it is just downright weird. 241 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:12,960 And there are goats - lots and lots of goats! 242 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,600 For many years, this was just a place where 243 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,800 people loved to come and fish, and maybe picnic or camp. 244 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:32,800 Bobby and Lynn Bright are the owners of Jackson Lake Island. 245 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:36,000 In 2003, an out-of-the-blue phone call 246 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:38,880 changed their world forever. 247 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,360 We were contacted by the Alabama Film Commission, 248 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:45,640 and they said that they had a production company 249 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:49,640 that was interested in maybe doing a movie on our island. 250 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,480 It was exciting because once we learned it was Tim Burton, 251 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,000 we knew that it wasn't going to be a small-time deal, 252 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,240 it was going to be a major production. 253 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:00,960 When a big Hollywood picture comes to town, 254 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:02,480 it's like an occupying army. 255 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,960 They bring almost everything they need - 256 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,080 trailers, trucks, catering. 257 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,360 Well, at the beginning, there was nothing here. 258 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,480 It was just grass and trees. 259 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,560 And they came in and just kind of cleared the site 260 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,920 and then started the construction. 261 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:19,440 It was a big operation. 262 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,600 This is the fictional town of Spectre, 263 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:31,360 one of the many whimsical locations in the 2003 cult film Big Fish. 264 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:33,200 If you haven't seen the movie Big Fish, 265 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:36,240 it's this really lovely magical-realism film. 266 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,160 At its core, it's a story of a father and a son's 267 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:40,560 troubled relationship. 268 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:45,480 So, Ewan McGregor stars as the dad when he's younger, 269 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,320 and Albert Finney plays the older version of him. 270 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:52,600 And he loves to tell tall tales about his life. 271 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,240 I mean tall tales - like, really. 272 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:58,520 The son is played by Billy Crudup, 273 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,800 and he plays a character named Will Bloom, 274 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,960 and Will is absolutely fed up 275 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,000 with what he sees as his father's lifetime of lies. 276 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,800 But when Will discovers his father is dying, 277 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,040 he decides to find out the truth about his life. 278 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,920 That's where the town of Spectre comes in. 279 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:21,240 In the film, a young Edward Bloom wants to leave home. 280 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,120 You know, it's too small for him. He's a big fish in a small pond. 281 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,880 So, he goes on kind of a journey, and that journey brings him here. 282 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:34,040 The town of Spectre is kind of like a Brigadoon place 283 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,920 where you feel like you've stepped out of time 284 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,680 into a different world where things just work differently, 285 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,680 like nobody wears any shoes. 286 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,240 Shortly after Edward arrives, 287 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,320 he's invited to the mayor's house for apple pie, 288 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,120 and the townspeople try to convince him to stay. 289 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,560 Under the table comes little Jenny, 290 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,080 unties his boots, runs out the front door with them. 291 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:02,440 She runs down the street, throws them over the line 292 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:04,600 where all the residents' shoes are, 293 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:08,320 and he quickly learned why she took his boots. 294 00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,800 And the reason for that is they love the town so much, 295 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,680 they don't ever want to leave. 296 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:19,760 The movie is full of all these weird and wonderful scenes, 297 00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:23,760 in a way that makes you think it could only be a Tim Burton film, 298 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,120 but it almost didn't turn out that way. 299 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:29,640 The movie was originally conceived from a novel, 300 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:34,400 and it came to Steven Spielberg, who was interested in directing it. 301 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:36,480 But then, mid-project, 302 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,520 he got called off on a different film, 303 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,320 and director Tim Burton got involved. 304 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,400 Although it was a departure from his normal style, 305 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:50,560 Burton was drawn to the story for deeply personal reasons. 306 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,240 Burton's father died in 2000, 307 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,720 and his mother, about two years after that. 308 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:58,600 And he wasn't really close to either of them. 309 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,880 I mean, he left home when he was really young. 310 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,800 When Burton's father began to get ill, 311 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,120 Burton tried to reconnect with him 312 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:08,480 and re-establish a relationship with him. 313 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,440 So, in many ways, what he went through 314 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,800 is actually much like what the character Will Bloom 315 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:14,600 went through in Big Fish. 316 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,240 It offered him a form of catharsis. 317 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:21,880 It's said he was also anxious to score a box-office triumph. 318 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,720 When Tim Burton came on board, 319 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,400 some say it was because he needed a win. 320 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,280 If you remember, he had just put out that movie Planet Of The Apes. 321 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:31,280 It was kind of rushed into production, 322 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,720 and it was nowhere near the hit that he really needed it to be. 323 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,000 The pressure was on to make this film a success. 324 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:43,840 Landowner Bobby Bright's first encounter 325 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,560 with the future Oscar-winner didn't help matters. 326 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,320 I would always come over after work and kind of ride through the set 327 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,560 to see what progress they had made. 328 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:54,880 And as I got behind 329 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,560 the mayor's house, this stranger came walking out, 330 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,080 and I thought maybe he was up to no good. 331 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,840 But I had no idea who Tim Burton was before the movie came here. 332 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,520 I almost started to do a citizen's arrest on him! 333 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:14,960 Despite Bobby's best efforts, Burton did continue filming, 334 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:19,000 but Spectre was about to hit hard times, Hollywood-style. 335 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,960 Spectre wasn't big enough for Edward Bloom. 336 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:27,040 I mean, he's a big fish and so he leaves. 337 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,240 Later in the movie, Edward comes back 338 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,160 to the town of Spectre, and something has happened - 339 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,120 the town is now in ruins. 340 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:37,520 So, in order to shoot that, 341 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,640 the filmmakers first had to build these nice new buildings 342 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,680 and then make everything look like it had aged 50 years. 343 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,520 They tore up the fences - the picket fences. 344 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,480 They used sandblasters, they used heating torches 345 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,920 to burn the paint off, to make the paint peel like that right there. 346 00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,840 They took up the sod, 347 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:01,840 and they did everything they possibly could 348 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:04,760 to make it look like it was in really, really bad shape. 349 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,680 So, really, what you're seeing here is not actual decay. 350 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:11,920 It's Hollywood magic. 351 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,840 Yet that Hollywood magic didn't translate into 352 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:19,480 the runaway box-office success Burton had hoped for. 353 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:26,200 It did about 60 million domestically and 120 million worldwide 354 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,280 with a $70 million budget. 355 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,840 So, a solid success, but not a great blockbuster. 356 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:37,120 For the Bright family, though, 357 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:41,760 the old movie set seemed like an opportunity too good to miss. 358 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,920 So, towards the end of the filming, 359 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,680 we, as a family, decided that, you know, 360 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:49,600 "What if we let it stay?" We had an expectation that 361 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:52,000 people would be really interested in seeing it. 362 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:53,760 Then nobody wanted to come see it! 363 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,440 People just didn't realise it was here. 364 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,600 In the years after the film, 365 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,720 the elements slowly took over the set. 366 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:07,200 Floods came in and destroyed one of the main character's homes. 367 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,960 Things really went to rack and ruin. 368 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,440 Spectre was in danger of complete destruction, 369 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:15,600 this time, for real. 370 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:20,160 If it was going to survive, it needed a lifeline fast. 371 00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:27,160 It was not until around 2011 or so, when social media picked it up, 372 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:30,200 and the next thing we knew, people knew we were here. 373 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,280 And once people started to come visit, 374 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,840 then we really realised that we needed to do whatever we could 375 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,560 to keep the structure standing. 376 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,200 They also come to see the goats. 377 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,200 And the goats take a toll not only on the island, 378 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,360 but they take a toll on the town of Spectre. 379 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,080 Today, there's not as much of the town left as there once was, 380 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,280 but thousands of fans still come 381 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,000 to walk the fictional street of a film they adore. 382 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:01,360 Big Fish has gained quite a cult following over the years. 383 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,600 It's really the message and the heartwarming nature of the movie 384 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,440 that people really love because, in the end, 385 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,720 Edward and Will do get their relationship back on track 386 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,400 and it's really beautiful. 387 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,840 We had a man that came from South Florida, 388 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,520 and he told us the story of how he had watched the movie with his son 389 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:26,560 while his son was on his deathbed, and they healed their relationship. 390 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:30,320 He was so emotional about it, I was crying listening to him 391 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,800 because I could tell that it really mattered that he get here, 392 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,840 you know, for the memory of his son. 393 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,360 Although the movie will live on 394 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:45,760 and likely get new fans over the years, 395 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,080 the future for the town of Spectre is not so certain. 396 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,760 I'm not sure how much longer it'll last. 397 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:54,960 At some point, it's just going to all give. 398 00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,120 They're not built on real foundations, 399 00:22:57,120 --> 00:22:59,520 so you can't expect it to last forever. 400 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,880 In the city of Gwangju, South Korea, 401 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:14,400 are the forsaken reminders of a sacrifice that forged a nation. 402 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,920 From the outside, it could be a rundown apartment block 403 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,160 or an office. 404 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,880 Peering through the dirty windows, it's really hard 405 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:30,200 to get a sense of what's inside. 406 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,000 As soon as you walk in, you can really feel the decay. 407 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,480 There are CT scanners, X-ray machines, 408 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:45,040 and cabinets still filled with vials of medicine, and syringes. 409 00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,960 So, clearly, this was some kind of medical facility. 410 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:53,760 It's kind of post-apocalyptic, like everyone just vanished. 411 00:23:56,120 --> 00:23:59,040 Nearby are the remains of another facility 412 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,560 that, at first, appears to have no obvious connection. 413 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,640 Set back from the square, behind heavy, metal gates, 414 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,160 lies this imposing white building. 415 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,360 A grand staircase greets you as you first walk in. 416 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:16,880 Inside, it has clearly been gutted. 417 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,640 These holes, surrounded by yellow tape, 418 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:24,400 suggest that something has been dug out of the walls for evidence. 419 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,360 Together, these structures tell a story of heroism 420 00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:31,680 in the face of mortal danger. 421 00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:36,560 When the government goes rogue, it's up to the citizens to rebel. 422 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:57,680 Jun-Bong Kim was an employee of a local cement company in 1980. 423 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:02,440 Events that played out in that year had a lasting impact on his life. 424 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,920 The catalyst for the cruelty Jun-Bong endured, 425 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:27,400 and which connected him to these buildings forever, 426 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:29,880 began in 1979. 427 00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,360 Park Chung Hee had ruled South Korea 428 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:37,040 as an authoritarian dictator since the 1960s. 429 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:41,480 At a dinner party in the presidential complex, 430 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,240 the head of intelligence pulled out a gun 431 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,920 and shot him in the head and in the chest. 432 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,200 The assassination was just the first act 433 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,120 of a military coup to take over the country. 434 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:59,280 In South Korea's major cities, like here in Gwangju, 435 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,400 student protests erupted. 436 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,640 7,000 protesters 437 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,880 broke through the police barrier surrounding their school 438 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,240 and went to the square in front of the Provincial Government Building. 439 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,640 They demanded an end to the martial law 440 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,760 declared across the country. 441 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,960 At 1am on May 18th, 442 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,520 the government announced a stoppage to all such activity. 443 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,200 They closed universities, 444 00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,800 they banned protests and demonstrations, 445 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,000 and they announced new restrictions on the press. 446 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,480 The military government deployed troops all over the city 447 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,600 to enforce the new laws by whatever means necessary. 448 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,200 These were soldiers trained against 449 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,600 the looming threat of invasion from North Korea, 450 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:44,920 not the policing of peaceful protests. 451 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:57,560 A 24-year-old deaf man was beaten so badly by soldiers 452 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,800 that he died of his wounds the following day. 453 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,040 But the people refused to be silenced 454 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:08,080 and the protests continued for the next three days. 455 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:11,840 On the 21st of May, an alarming decision was made. 456 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,600 The stage was set for a clash 457 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,640 that would reverberate through South Korea's history. 458 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,880 At 1pm, the national anthem was played out over the PA system. 459 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:29,280 As soon as the last note of the anthem played, the soldiers, 460 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:33,040 armed with American-provided M16 assault rifles, 461 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,880 opened fire on the crowd. GUNFIRE 462 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:39,640 Tens of thousands of people were running for their lives, 463 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,560 diving for cover in nearby alleyways. 464 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,680 Jun-Bong was working in an office 465 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,080 across from the Provincial Government Building 466 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:50,360 when he was unexpectedly drawn into the turmoil. 467 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,600 He rushed the wounded to the city's Red Cross Hospital, 468 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,640 located less than half a mile away. 469 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,320 When he arrived, the scene was one of utter chaos. 470 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:43,520 It soon became clear that 471 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:47,080 the hospital was going to run out of blood supply for transfusion, 472 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,040 and when that happened, people suffering from gunshot wounds 473 00:28:50,040 --> 00:28:51,920 were going to die very, very quickly. 474 00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,520 Jun-Bong was desperate to help in any way he could, 475 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,560 even if it meant risking his own life. 476 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,520 He and a team of doctors drove into the city 477 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,480 as the crackle of gunfire echoed all around. 478 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,600 Those with serious gunshot wounds were stabilised, 479 00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:00,600 had the bullets and shrapnel removed from their bodies, 480 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:04,120 and then taken to larger hospitals for longer-term care. 481 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,400 But the real fight had only just begun. 482 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,040 The citizens of Gwangju mobilised, 483 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,200 raiding police stations and military depots 484 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,600 to take up arms against the aggressors. 485 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,600 The military forces facing this mass armed resistance 486 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,120 retreated to the outskirts of the city. 487 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,560 They cut off all outside communications 488 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:29,080 and closed the roads. 489 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,560 What had become a demonstration and a response 490 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:34,360 had now become a siege. 491 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,320 For a few days, there was peace, 492 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,000 but this was just the calm before the storm. 493 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,440 On May 26th, it became clear 494 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,480 the military was moving to retake the city. 495 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,320 As news of the imminent attack began to spread, 496 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,520 armed protesters took up station 497 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,440 inside the Provincial Government Building. 498 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,240 They were determined to make a last desperate stand. 499 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,160 Jun-Bong was one of the city's defenders 500 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:03,640 holed up inside. 501 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:20,920 As church bells pealed at 4am, the first shots were fired. 502 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:24,120 Then the chaos of war erupted. 503 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:26,320 GUNFIRE 504 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,760 By 5.10am, with the sun just beginning to rise over the city, 505 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,080 it was all over. 506 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:15,800 17 people were killed inside the Provincial Government Building, 507 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,880 and over 200 were arrested. 508 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:22,280 Yet the event was swept under the rug. 509 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,160 In the years that followed, 510 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:27,320 any mention of the uprising by the city's residents 511 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:30,200 was met with severe punishment. 512 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,200 The Provincial Government Building was once again used 513 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:35,680 as an administrative headquarters. 514 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:39,480 All traces of the brutal attack were covered over. 515 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,640 But the events of May 1980 516 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,640 laid the foundations for democracy to eventually flourish. 517 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:54,200 In 1987, the country held its first free elections. 518 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,520 Under the new regime, the city's Red Cross Hospital 519 00:32:57,520 --> 00:33:00,760 remained operational for another 27 years. 520 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,040 By 2014, however, its doors were locked, 521 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:08,120 with everything left inside, 522 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,520 and the whole facility was just left to decay. 523 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:21,840 Today, Jun-Bong works with the May 18 Foundation, 524 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:24,240 founded to protect these structures 525 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:26,960 and the memory of the Gwangju Uprising. 526 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:48,880 In western Namibia, where the desert meets the ocean, 527 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:52,480 traces of weather-beaten structures line the shore. 528 00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:59,720 We're on the South Atlantic coast of Africa. 529 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:04,160 This is a place where, to this day, almost no-one lives. 530 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:09,920 Then, here and there, we see some signs of human activity. 531 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,480 There are these huge metal structures, 532 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,560 almost like barrels, lined up in rows. 533 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,280 And, from above, you can see the outline 534 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,840 of a large concrete slipway on the water's edge. 535 00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:28,320 Chains set into the ground suggest that something massive 536 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,920 was either lashed down or dragged across the beach. 537 00:34:31,920 --> 00:34:35,760 What would require such heavy-duty infrastructure 538 00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:38,080 out here in the middle of nowhere? 539 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,400 These are the last remains of a booming industry 540 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,800 that powered the industrial age. 541 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,000 I believe it was a necessary evil 542 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,680 at a time when we had no other source of fuel. 543 00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:00,880 If you walk on this beach, you see something kind of chilling. 544 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,920 There are bones everywhere - enormous bones. 545 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,560 It's easy to see how this place got its name - 546 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,040 the Skeleton Coast. 547 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,440 I am a born Namibian. At a young age, 548 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,360 my father brought me out into this area 549 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,840 and it really grew my passion for the desert. 550 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,320 Paul Lombard is a local expedition leader. 551 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:28,920 It took years of experience 552 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,040 to learn how to live in this unforgiving environment. 553 00:35:33,840 --> 00:35:35,280 As an early sailor, 554 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,560 if you were stranded on this coast and had no knowledge of the desert, 555 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,000 the chance of survival was next to nothing. 556 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,360 Yet hundreds of people did venture here, 557 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,880 willing to risk their lives in search of fortune. 558 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:55,400 The prize they sought wasn't buried in the desert. 559 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,320 It was in the ocean facing it. 560 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,320 There are giant seal colonies, 561 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:03,960 sharks come in close to the shore, 562 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:05,640 and there are whales. 563 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,400 In the winter, they migrated north to the warmer waters, 564 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,880 like those along the South African and Namibian coasts. 565 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,360 They sought out shallow bays like these 566 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:18,000 to give birth. 567 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:19,920 In the early 1700s, 568 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:23,520 the Dutch West India Company sent whalers to this region, 569 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,680 and American, French, and Norwegian hunters soon followed. 570 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,520 Whaling stations were quickly established 571 00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:34,520 along Namibia's coast to exploit the abundant population. 572 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:38,320 This one became known as Meob Bay. 573 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,200 Everyone thinks of Moby-Dick and the 19th-century ships 574 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:46,440 that sailed around the world chasing a variety of whales, 575 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:48,440 especially sperm whales. 576 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,960 But here in Africa, 577 00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:55,560 it was possible to hunt whales right off the beach. 578 00:36:55,560 --> 00:36:57,560 The unique design of these surf boats 579 00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,800 was specific for breaking through the waves, 580 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,960 with the bow and the stern the same shape. 581 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:09,120 If the small crew of men got twisted or turned in the waves, 582 00:37:09,120 --> 00:37:11,080 they could just turn their paddles around 583 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:12,560 and row their way through. 584 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,320 They would then have the open ocean 585 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,800 to chase across and hunt down their prey. 586 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:22,000 The hunters' catch of choice was the southern right whale. 587 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:25,560 Legend has it the right whale got its name because, 588 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:28,760 for the early whalers, it was the easiest whale, 589 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:30,760 the right whale, to catch. 590 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:34,080 They often swam up close to the shore 591 00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:35,800 and stayed near the surface, 592 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:37,800 making it easy to spot and follow them. 593 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,120 They also floated when they were dead, 594 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,320 which made it much easier to lash them to the side of ships 595 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:45,680 or drag them back to shore. 596 00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:49,240 The whale was a gold mine, 597 00:37:49,240 --> 00:37:52,680 {\an8}and a use was found for every part. 598 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:55,040 {\an8}The most important product from whaling 599 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:58,280 {\an8}was the oil produced from the animal's blubber. 600 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,240 {\an8}A fully-grown male would harvest 601 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,680 {\an8}about 40 to 50 barrels of oil, 602 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,800 {\an8}where a fully-grown female would be about 60 to 70 barrels of oil. 603 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:08,960 {\an8}Before the dawn of the electric light, 604 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,280 {\an8}whale oil was considered the best kind of oil 605 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:14,840 {\an8}to burn in a lamp for illumination, 606 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:19,600 {\an8}and that made the oil extremely valuable. 607 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:24,440 {\an8}Over the course of a century, around 3,700 right whales 608 00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:27,640 {\an8}were killed by the industry in Namibia. 609 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,520 {\an8}Their downfall was inevitable. 610 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:34,360 By the 1800s, 611 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:37,440 right whales had been hunted almost to the verge of extinction, 612 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,120 but whalers didn't have the technology 613 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:43,600 to catch and harvest whales which didn't float when they died. 614 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,040 As a result, near-shore whaling declined, 615 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,880 and stations like this were left abandoned. 616 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:56,400 But in the decades to come, the Industrial Revolution's advances 617 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:00,560 would see the trade return to Namibia with a vengeance. 618 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,680 Steam power was coming in, 619 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:07,360 so ships could travel faster and farther. 620 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,320 And they began to develop mechanised harpoons 621 00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,160 that could shoot farther with much more force. 622 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,880 And most kind of chilling of all, 623 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:20,640 they developed harpoons with a kind of grenade tip. 624 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:25,560 Jean-Paul Roux is a local marine scientist 625 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,480 who studies the ecosystem of these waters. 626 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:35,360 Faster whales could be taken because of new technology, 627 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:40,240 which allowed the whalers to target the humpback whale, 628 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,640 blue whales, fin whales. 629 00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:47,400 They were more abundant because they had never been exploited before. 630 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:53,200 150 miles south of Meob Bay, just outside the town of Luderitz, 631 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:55,400 a collection of rusted remains 632 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,200 hint at the scale of this deadly new era. 633 00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:03,560 This is the Sturmvogelbucht whaling station. 634 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:07,240 When the German-run operation opened in 1913, 635 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:11,680 it was equipped with the latest hunting and processing technology. 636 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:16,360 So, that's where it all started. 637 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,720 After the killing of the whale, it was towed here, 638 00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:25,440 fastened to cables, and dragged tail-first. 639 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:32,440 You can see how the cables have made grooves in the concrete here. 640 00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:36,280 Once the whale had been brought to the factory, 641 00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,640 a process known as flensing began. 642 00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:42,240 Using long-hooked knives, 643 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:44,960 workers would cut off sections of blubber, 644 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:46,840 which were then dragged to the boilers 645 00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:48,680 and cooked down into oil. 646 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,080 This method required fresh water, 647 00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,320 which was hard to come by in the desert. 648 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,600 They had to set up a big powered system 649 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,400 to boil seawater and condense it. 650 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:02,160 But it wasn't an easy start. 651 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:05,240 There were constant problems with the water supply, 652 00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,240 and they only produced 2,000 barrels of oil, 653 00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:09,960 which was way below what they'd hoped. 654 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,920 The situation was about to get far worse 655 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,560 for the whaling station's German owners. 656 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:18,840 A conflict loomed that would bring 657 00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:21,600 the entire industry here crashing down. 658 00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:27,160 Since 1884, Namibia had been a German colony, 659 00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:30,720 then part of what was known as German South West Africa. 660 00:41:30,720 --> 00:41:33,760 Soon, however, World War I would intervene. 661 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,160 On the request of the British government, 662 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:43,800 South Africa invaded Namibia and occupied the town of Luderitz. 663 00:41:43,800 --> 00:41:48,240 The station's ships were seized and operations ground to a halt. 664 00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:52,000 JEAN-PAUL ROUX: All the machinery was taken away. 665 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:55,680 The sheds themselves were left abandoned. 666 00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,480 But even had the station survived the First World War, 667 00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:01,240 it probably would have gone out of business anyway. 668 00:42:01,240 --> 00:42:02,920 At the end of the war, 669 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,720 Norwegian whalers mostly had discovered that 670 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:11,280 it was far better to look for whales in Antarctica 671 00:42:11,280 --> 00:42:14,520 instead of having these shore stations, 672 00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:18,760 and, later on, developed the concept of a factory vessel. 673 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,920 This is what brought most whale stocks to decline. 674 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:31,040 For centuries, whaling was a vital 675 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,440 yet unpleasant part of human development. 676 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:37,800 Whaling in Namibia or South West Africa, 677 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,920 at that stage, put us on the map. 678 00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:42,720 And my town, Walvis Bay, where I was born and bred, 679 00:42:42,720 --> 00:42:45,520 was founded on the backbone of the whaling industry. 680 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,560 In 1986, the International Whaling Commission 681 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:54,040 outlawed all commercial whaling. 682 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,080 Though some countries ignore the ban, 683 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:01,800 the majestic creatures are slowly returning to Namibia's waters. 684 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:05,040 Subtitles by Red Bee Media 57662

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