March of the Penguins
Directed by Luc Jacquet.
Imagine wanting to stand around butt-naked for nine months of the year in the coldest place on Earth. That’s pretty much what these emperor penguins hang out for the other three warmer months.
March of the Penguins follows the journey of Antarctica’s population of emperor penguins from the start of winter when they leave the ocean to migrate to their traditional breeding grounds. The film-makers follow every step of the penguins while they court, mate and tend to their single eggs, all the while evading the constant dangers of mother nature.
Cinematographers Lauret Chalet and Jerome Maison with a superb sound track create an aura hard to parallel, especially with the narration of Morgan Freeman. Although his dialect and emotion are very similar to his narration of the Shawshank Redemption, he’s a pleasant change to the esteemed David Attenborough.
All in all though, this is really just a movie-length documentary with a couple of fat penguin gags and lots of snow and ice. The storyline does pull at a few heart-strings, but if you want to save ten bucks, just read the back of the flyer — it’s all there. It’s worth seeing if you’re into the nature thing, but a widescreen plasma and surround sound will do it justice. Three out of five.
Stewart Jones
