March of the Penguins
By: Mark Runyon | Category: On DVD | 09/02/05 | 11:49 AM
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Grade: B | Genre: Documentary
Summary: March of the Penguins is a very good film, outlining the struggles and the hardships that these birds overcome to mate. It is shot exquisitely in the Antarctic and shines like an IMAX spectacular visual feast.
Being the film buff that I am, I've been watching the documentary March of the Penguins mounting the box office charts like a bucking bronco at the county fair for weeks on end. It just didn't make any sense how this film had already brought in a staggering $55 million dollars, putting it behind the politically charged Fahrenheit 9/11 as the highest grossing documentary of all time. I mean its penguins. How is this any more spectacular than a feature I can see on PBS? Well it turns out that March of the Penguins huddles around a very intriguing tale of journey and sacrifice for the sake of mating in which some will survive to birth new young and some will not. It's a beautiful picture to watch unfold as the penguins inch their way to the breeding ground then come full circle back to the water's edge that they call home. |
I'll be the first to admit this wasn't one I was excited to see. It's at heart a nature flick about penguins for goodness sakes. I can hear the yawns overtaking me now. Truthfully, this is a much better film than I thought it would be. You can think of this as the Miracle of Life: Penguin Edition. We follow our wayward clan as they make their 70-mile journey over the Antarctic tundra to mate and fulfill Darwin's theory along the way. This is the story of their journey to find a mate and preserve their subsequent child in the face of starvation and the bitter freezing cold.
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| March of the Penguins |
Starring: Voice of Morgan Freeman
Director: Luc Jacquet |
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| View the Trailer (Quicktime) |
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We open by watching the Emperor penguin waddle his way across the frozen tundra after leaving the familiar confines of his watery paradise. The fat days of fall have past as winter quickly approaches. Though they may be birds, swimming is primary method of locomotion so venturing out of the water to hike across the continent is a considerable effort. What is the pull that gets them to towel off; sex of course. Not just any sex, but blinding hot penguin sex. And to think this is a G-rated film. So with bellies pouched, they gather together to make the long and arduous journey to the place of their birth. They alternate waddling and plopping down on their bellies to slide their way along the glacier to get closer to the mating grounds. It's interesting how in unison the flock of penguins is. When one body surfs, they all join in the slip and slide fun.
Once they reach the breading ground, the meat market is open for business. It resembles the trendiest bar in your town with better-dressed and more civilized patrons. They cuddle heads with one another until they find that one penguin they want to mate with this season. Maybe we should look into this concept of seasonal monogamy. Anyway, their mating results in an egg, which the mother passes along to the father to protect while she goes off, and gathers food after the nourishment sucking pregnancy. How is that for a role reversal? The males wait as winter pushes in, freezing their tails off, as they huddle together to preserve warmth. All right, who brought the space heater?
The most impressive aspect of this film is the cinematography. The level of detail that is captured on the Emperor penguins is really amazing. The feathers just stand out and the glaciers are breath taking. Morgan Freeman handles the narration in his usual slow drawl that fleshes out a tale and makes it spark to life. Some days I think he should just forgo acting and just do voice over work, then my senses come to me, unable to part with such a great actor. This film allows you to snatch a glimpse without having to endure the grueling eighty below temperatures, and that's not factoring in the 100 mph wind chill. Its a very intriguing story discovering how these penguins go up to 125 days without food, all in the name of propagating the species.
March of the Penguins is a very good film, outlining the struggles and the hardships that these birds overcome to mate. It is shot exquisitely in the Antarctic and shines like an IMAX spectacular visual feast. Does it deserve to be a $55 million (and climbing) blockbuster documentary? Not really. It plays like the best of the Discovery Channel, yet fails to really dig deeply into us as we are watching these penguins toil. With great documentaries, you have to ask what they accomplish. In My Architect: A Son's Journey, we see a man coming to terms with a famous father, that he never really knew, who lived secret lives. In Tarnation, a filmmaker tries to come to terms with his mother's all consuming case of schizophrenia. Although this is a very interesting and beautiful tale, I don't think it made the same impact as these previously mentioned films, thus I question where all the fanfare around this film is erupting from?
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