FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: Luc Jacquet. Produced by: Yves Darondeau, Christophe Lioud & Emmanuel Priou. Written by: Luc Jacquet, Michel Fessler & Jordan Roberts. Director of Photography: Laurent Chalet & Jérôme Maison. Edited by: Sabine Emiliani. Music by: Alex Wurman. Released by: Warner Independent. Language: English. Country of Origin: France. 80 min. Rated: G. Narrated by: Morgan Freeman.
An adorable, telling look at the love lives of penguins, chronicling the challenges, triumphs and
follies of the emperor penguins’ mating cycle in Antarctica. Like Winged Migration, this
nature film chronicles the movement of a species. But while
Migration's director Jacques Perrin trained birds to create dramatic,
staged shots, March of the Penguins' crew attempts to unobtrusively film the
birds in their habitat.
Director Luc Jacquet, a biologist, and his team begin the film with the pairing off of mates. Each
year thousands of penguins migrate to a
specific spot where the ice is thick - that way when the chicks hatch, they
won't fall through the melting ice. The birds chatter and amble, cautiously
approaching their chosen mate; the gathering resembles a high school dance.
Fascinating are the ways in which the new couples interact. Who would have
guessed that the awkward, waddling penguin is such a gentle and romantic
creature? Pairs slowly nuzzle each other's beaks, gently rub bellies and
stand face to face, eyes shut. After the female lays her egg, the
male protects it, balancing the egg on his feet for months and incubating
it throughout fierce winter storms. While he starves on land, the
female returns to the sea to eat.
Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film combines gorgeous shots of the
continent's ice and snow with the emergence of new life. For some unlucky
parents though, dropped eggs crack, babies are snatched by hungry predators
and spouses don't survive the shuttling back and forth for food. But Jacquet doesn't harp on
tragedy. March
of the Penguins is a feel-good family movie that's ideal for aficionados
of the Discovery or National Geographic Channel (National Geographic co-distributes the film).
Stick around for the credits to see how the film's camera crew interacted
with their new tuxedoed friends. Deborah Lynn Blumberg
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