RED ENVELOPES: There's a Penguin on the Television Set

We held out as long as we could. We resisted, we dodged, we fought. And in the end, we succumbed to the clarion call of the penguin.

March of the Penguins is probably going to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It's unavoidable. Actually, I shouldn't say that, because the documentary branch of the Academy consistently screws up. But there's such overwhelming love for these penguins and their movie, victory seems practically assured. So as part of my own personal "Oscars on Netflix Month", I invited the penguins into my home. I'd see what all the fuss was about. And, in an unusual twist, I would end up having seen as many Best Documentary nominees as I had contenders for Best Picture.

Between the National Geographic specials and Animal Planet and everything else, it seems like the world of nature has been pretty well covered. But director Luc Jacquet has stumbled upon a fascinating subject: the mating rituals of emperor penguins in the frezzing desolation of Antarctica. A few critics have made the observation that there's nothing in this movie that you couldn't see on the Discovery Channel. But the travails these creatures endure for the purpose of procreation are so extraordinary, and the drama of their journey is so expertly told, I have no problem saying this story belongs on the big screen. Besides, the Enron movie couldn't have been on CNBC?

Penguins are, in that wonderful way that nature so often is, weird. They are birds, but they cannot fly, and are much more at home in the frigid seas, flitting about like guided torpedoes. On land, they have a delightful waddle, tromping across the ice with unexpectedly craggy clawed feet. Their first appearance in the film is in a blurry long-shot, looking like bedouins crossing a desert. They're very appealing characters, so we're inclined to like them immediately.

Jacquet immediately exploits this, as he captures the immensely long line of penguins emerging from the waters to walk upwards of 70 miles to their breeding ground. The sight of so many creatures waddling for miles is captivating, and it's only the first of the hardships these penquins will endure, all for the purpose of propagating the species.

What follows is a series of "holy cow" moments, as the penguins battle the elements, predators, and sheer bad luck in their effort to being new penguins into the world. A behind-the-scenes featurette on the DVD shows that a lot of really depressing footage got left out, but you still have the sense that the deck is definitely stacked against the birds. Each egg (balanced on the feet of its parents to avoid contact with the ice) seems terribly fragile, so each chirping penguin chick feels like a major triumph.

Jacquet (or maybe Jordan Roberts, who wrote the narration for the American release) does not resist the temptation to anthropomorphize these animals. Penguins are monogamous -- for a year at a time, which the filmmakers point out. Nevertheless, the film does hint that the penguins mate and raise their young out of a sense of familial love, rather than pure instinct. It's a little distracting, only because it's so easy to get sucked into thinking that animals act like humans. In the end, the penguins' story stands on its' own, needing little help from man to be more compelling.

A real test of a movie's quality in this day and age is how badly you feel the need to own it. Am I likely to whip it out and watch it again? March of the Penguins is closer than I would have ever thought to being on my ought-to-own list. The striking images of the Antarctic wasteland are enlivened by the gregarious penguins. My favorite image actually comes from that making-of featurette, when the filmmakers have arrived at the nesting ground, and are beginning to set up their cameras. They are trying to be low key, but the penguins have noticed them, and immediately walk over the check things out. It's hard to imagine a more innocent response. I've just railed against trying to make animals seem like humans, but here's an instance where I wish people could be more like animals. Our ability to trust is at an all-time low. Seeing the curiosity and apparent friendliness of the penguins is a true shock. And it's an image I wouldn't mind seeing again.

APPENDIX: I stumbled across the following comment at the realityblurred website:

"Interestingly, while the US version featured narration by Morgan Freeman, the original French version of March of the Penguins had the penguins “speaking” dialogue, so it was far less reality-based than the US version, although ours certainly still anthropomorphizes the penguins enough for us get to know them."

I hereby take back my comments about the excessive anthropomorphizing. Dialogue? Ugh. Nice save, Jordan Roberts.