March of the Penguins

The French filmmakers responsible for March of the Penguins must surely have a guardian angel looking down upon them. In producing their wildlife documentary of a year in the life of the Emperor Penguins of Antarctica, they have made the second highest grossing theatrically released documentary (in the US) of all time, with a total worldwide box office at time of writing of US$120.5 million.* This despite their film being no more remarkable than many other nature specials carrying the National Geographic imprimatur.

Enlisting modern-day favourite Morgan Freeman to narrate the English-language version was a stroke of genius that may be responsible for much of the film’s success. His dulcet tones allow the narration to soar alongside the scenery, and he carries a certain authority within his voice that allows him to almost get away with what are, at times, frankly absurd descriptions of the penguins and their motivations for behaving in the way they do.

This is the most disappointing feature of a film that admittedly contains some remarkable footage of these incredibly beautiful creatures. In the attempt to describe their lives artificially in human terms, and in trying to add a false sense of the heroism of the penguin, the scriptwriters allow unreality to seep in and soil the images. Certainly, the life cycle of these animals is amazing enough, without the false romanticism added, and the film would have been far stronger if it simply allowed the penguins’ actions to speak for themselves. Instead, the audience must endure silly attributions of human emotions to what is really a case of survival at all costs.

That said, the underwater images are incredible, and the camera operators seem to have had amazing access to the penguins as they huddled together nesting for the Winter. We, the audience, are taken so close as to see the regurgitant material of the mother being fed to the offspring, or the first signs of the hatching of the eggs. The footage achieved is wonderful, and the heroism of those responsible should not go unappreciated – by enduring the time on the ice with the penguins, the French film crew have recorded a beautiful animal in the most difficult of conditions.

Were it not for the sometimes ridiculous nature of the script, March of the Penguins would be a great piece of educational material on the life cycle of the Emperor Penguin. It fits rather more comfortably, however, alongside Saturday afternoon nature specials, never seeming to be worthy of the ‘Sunday Premiere Movie Special’ status that seems to have been thrust upon it.