March of the Penguins (2005)

Title: March of the Penguins
Director: Luc Jacquet
Genre: Documentary
Highs: They are sooo cute!!!
Lows: None
RhynoBot Grade: A

This is truly an amazing film and confirms my wifes long standing opinion that the French are out of their freaking minds. Seeing this on DVD gave me an advantage over seeing it in the theater in the sense that I got to watch the original French documentary as well that was included in the special features. Man these French guys that filmed the movie are crazy for wanting to live out in those conditions. But I have to say I appreciate there effort because I learned a lot about the nature of these rugged birds that I never would have know if it were not for there efforts.

The movie is bitter/sweet like all things in nature. On one hand you will be amazed at how nature has created a near perfect system for these birds. They instinctually know where to go and when to go, they have a strong mating drive, and they are able to identify who their mate is even after long absences. Plus the little baby penguins are so cute and fluffy. But on the other hand nature is untamed and unemotional. The weather system in Antartica is so sever that several of the adults and many of the eggs and young do not survive which is difficult for us emotional beings to watch. The most difficult aspect of watching another species deal with the loss of their young, whether it is in egg form or the cute fluffy form, is the similarity to how we as humans deal with similar tragedy. Turns out we are not completely dissimilar - like us some are able to cope with the loss and move on, whereas others cannot and turn to drastic measures like trying to steal your neighbors young. For this reason it is difficult to not put yourself in the penguins shoes (or webbed feet I should say) and feel a tinge of sadness for their loss. But Darwin prevails, only the strong are meant to survive and they do, completing the circle of life for generations to come.

The cinematography in this movie is absolutely amazing. The accessibility of the film crew to immerse themselves into the pod of penguins, in my mind, was unprecedented. Not to mention the underwater footage - WOW. I have no idea how they were able to get that footage, I seriously doubt one of the French cameramen went down into that freezing water to get it. Although we are talking about the crazy ass French so I guess it's a possibility. One final note worth mentioning - casting Morgan Freeman as the narrator was an excellent idea. Freeman has such a nature tone for narration, I can listen to the man speak all day. The movie is rated G but there will be some tough questions from really young children that you will need to be prepared to answer like, Why did the babies die? This is a good movie for kids but make sure they are at an age that can handle the concept of life and death, and that you are ready to tackle the issue in a straight forward manor.

This is an excellent movie, you should see it.