The main conceit of March of the Penguins is that film goers would be willing to pay money to watch a well done National Geographic-style documentary about our feathered friends to the south…and they are correct. This story of emperor penguins, the tuxedoed inhabitants of bitter-cold Antartica, and their yearly courtship and mating rituals is a sweet, entertaining, and powerful tale of instinct and survival.
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, March of the Penguins follows the trail of the emperor penguins as they conduct their yearly winter march to their mating grounds. Mimicking the habits of salmon the emperor penguins return to the same spot every year to conduct courtship rituals, mate, and eventually bring forth young into this frozen wasteland. Freeman’s voice over is smooth as butter as he tells the tale of how these wondrous creatures travel over ever-changing terrain, sometimes up to 70 miles, to return to the place of their birth. Their search for a suitable partner, parental responsibilities, and the hardships they endure over many months to survive and protect their eggs are all handled lovingly by the filmmakers.
This film is directed masterfully by French director Luc Jacquet and the cinematography is beautiful. Although dominated by images of white ice and black and white penguins there are stunning shots throughout this film. Even at only 80 minutes there are a few moments that seem to run long but this is more than compensated for by the wonderful moments in the film. The ending credits show shots of the camera crew as they too braved the harsh conditions, answering the question that naturally springs to mind as you watch the film, “how did they get this incredible footage?”
In reading Entertainment Weekly magazine I discovered that this film originally had a “teletubby-style” musical score and included an audio track in which the penguins talked to each other, sharing hopes and dreams and whispering sweet nothings during courtship and mating. This was the version that was shown at Sundance early in January. Evidence would suggest that it was not well received in that format thus prompting the changes that brought it to its current state. In conversing with friends we agreed that it would be fun if they included both versions on the DVD when released.
This is a marvelous family film filled with laughs, love and wonder that anything could exist in such a harsh environment. Penguin lovers everywhere will not be disappointed. Viewing March of the Penguins is time, and money, well spent.
My daughter, Ashley who is 8, gave this film high praise. She said it was ” very, very, GOOD! “. It really was a great family film. My 5 year old also enjoyed it. The footage is breath taking and the story is heart warming.
i saw the trailer for this pre-Charlie & it looks fantastic. i hope they do the whole documentary in the style of the trailer.
They did, it was great!
Rumor has it this flick is making more per screen than any of the blockbusters…
I wouldn’t doubt it..its in very limited release but I’m sure word of mouth is filling the theatres where it is showing.
Where is it playing? I want to go but Mike doesn’t. Maybe I can talk his mom &
sister into going while they are staying at our house this week.
Its at the Tivoli for sure but I would look it up in the movie section on http://www.kcstar.com to see if it is playing anywhere else because it opened on more screens over the weekend.
Glad you wrote this. I’ve been trying to figure out if it would hold my 6 year old’s attention! I can’t wait to see it!
Oh, Michele sent me!
I finally saw this documentary and it was awesome. I can’t believe how much work it
is to be an emporer penguin. What a harsh life. I am so glad that human life during
infancy is less fragile than with penguin life. I felt so bad for the penguins that
lost their eggs or babies. It broke my heart. I didn’t mind though that the
father had to help care for the egg & had to care for the young right after their birth –
sounds like a good idea to me. I’ll go on vacation for food while Mike cares for our
newborn (ha ha)!! Did you happen to see or remember that part where the female
penguins are heading back from feeding to the mating ground and one female
penguin slips and her feet go up in the air – it was hilarious!! Anyway – great
movie to see.
It was indeed a really good show and you picked a perfect day to post about it since the snow is falling all around here. I don’t recall seeing the penguin fall but its been a long time since I’ve seen this. I wouldn’t want to exchange lives with them, that’s for sure.