March Of The Penguins review

The highlight of the recent animated animal comedy Madagascar was the droll penguins. After escaping the confines of the Central Park Zoo they go in search of their natural habitat, but when they finally reach the frozen environs of their Antarctica homeland they declare, "Well, this sucks." That any species can survive on the harshest place on earth is a miracle of nature. How they do it is the subject of March Of The Penguins, a stirring documentary about the emperor penguin.

Directed by Luc Jacquet, March Of The Penguins chronicles, with intimate and beautiful photography, the extraordinary migration the emperor penguin makes, traveling across more than 60 miles of tundra as it heads inland towards its breeding grounds. The endless line of thousands of penguins, waddling slowly in single file towards the endless white horizon is a humbling image, one of many in this insightful glimpse into the life of a truly remarkable animal.

It's almost impossible to comprehend the harshness of the emperor's existence. In addition to its long trek, once at its destination - chosen because it's where the ice is thick enough to support the colony - the parents have to withstand brutal snowstorms and hunger as they tend their one solitary offspring. The males balance the egg precariously on their feet for months, knowing that one slip will spell doom, while the females head back on the long round trip to the ocean to gather food. If they arrive back more than 48 hours after the egg has hatched it will be too late.

Jacquet and his team of photographers have done a masterful job of conveying the tenderness and resilience of the noble emperors. By filming at close quarters and at ground level, it's as though we are part of the colony. The footage of the newly hatched and young penguins is by comparison unadulteratedly cute. This French production was given a Hollywood makeover when Morgan Freeman's rich warm narration was added, lending it a stately elegance.

What reservations exist center around the film's element of repetition. Although the sight of the penguins waddling across the ice is impossibly endearing, it's also one that loses its impact after a while. For a nature documentary, there is also a paucity of scientific information. It's as though the focus is more on conveying a romantic and heroic image of the emperor penguin rather than simply offer a factual study.

Looking at the emperor's inscrutable expression, it's impossible to tell they are the victims of karmic retribution. Given the choice, it's hard to imagine any creature would want to come back as an emperor penguin. March Of The Penguins does two things very convincingly: it instills viewers with the utmost respect for these miraculous creatures while at the same time insuring that no-one in their right mind would ever wish to trade places.

Kevin Murphy