A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, Warner Independent Pictures/National Geographic Films
Dir. Luc Jacquet - Narrated by Morgan Freeman
There's no doubt in my mind that there will be two types of audience members seeing 'March of the Penguins'. There is Group A, which is actually interested in the idea of watching the penguins' migratory march to meet their mate and have offspring. Then there is Group B, who think penguins are really cute and just want to see a lot of penguins. I can assure that both groups will be entirely pleased by this feature. Director Luc Jacquet, who spent over 14 months with a camera crew in the Antarctic Circle filming this silly birds, has taken his visionary skill and transformed it into a captivating and luscious piece of art. There's something graceful, something relaxing, and something deeply emotional in watching these penguins cavort and love. Our audience members will care for the penguins during the runtime, primarily because Jacquet has played a clever subliminal mindgame for them - he has put a unique human face about the penguin, giving them feelings such as hope, passion, and persistance. I'm not saying this is going to be a serious movie the whole way through, because there are moments where we bask in the playfulness of his silly looking people. It's a satisfying documentary, a warm-hearted love story, a Stooge-esque comedy, and a tale of the course of nature - set in the frigid wastelands of the South Pole. Quaint, isn't it?
We watch as our penguin flock jumps and belly-slides onto the ice, ready to start their long journey to find a mate. The penguins make week-long trips into the middle of the ice fields just to find the right mating grounds, which is usually marked by the thick ice so that that penguin eggs don't fall through, assuring its demise. Once they reach their grounds, the penguins disperse all over the place, honking their mating calls and prepping their feathers to look fashionable amongst the ladies. Eventually, the men find their perfect woman, and remain close by them for the period of reproduction. The lonely penguins walk away, eventually to die in the remainder of the winter. The couples eventually have their eggs ready, but they must be kept safe for the time when the mothers leave to gather food for themselves and their children. The fathers, in hope to keep their chicks alive and healthy, must protect the egg in the same spot for weeks upon weeks while winter storms upon them. Once the mother returns, the egg has already hatched and the baby is hungry to stay alive. In the end, we see as these couples' persistence to keep their children alive, to stumble across the dangerous plains of Antarctica for food to keep them alive. This is a warning: you may be crying at the end of this movie.
Luc Jacquet actually had written a screenplay to this film before he had filmed it, just to give guidelines for the cinematographers who travelled to Antarctica for this penguins. The emotion that is drenched from the imagery of these animals is astounding - no one would have ever thought much of this being a serious film to a degree. National Geographic specials usually set themselves up in the fashion where the final message is, 'it's just the course of nature', but there's something deeper to this. These aren't the one-dimensional penguins that we're so used to seeing jumping off icy cliffs to cool themselves, nor the same kind that just waddle around for our amusement - they're nearly human. OK, so that's a wild tangent to draw, but it's not too far from what we see. They have feeling and thoughts much like us, but the limitations to speech impede any sense. Jacquet lets the penguins show themselves for who they really are. With Morgan Freeman's lush and warm narration, this movie does no wrong. It works wholely as a movie, with a plot and characters - and less like a documentary.
'March of the Penguins' is a step forward for documentarians. You'll learn something about penguins, but it's not mandatory - it just comes naturally. Facts aren't rattled off about these birds, but a story is its replacement. For those who appreciate the simplistic beauty of the South Arctic circle's landscapes, as well as something to just watch for hours, then this is the right movie for you. It's an astonishing new look at one of nature's silliest little creatures.
Click to View Trailer for 'March of the Penguins'.
