Penguins

First off, Amanda at Pandagon has an interesting response to my post yesterday inspired by "Sixteen Candles."

Sunday night, my fiancee and I stood in a long line at the Laemmle theatre here in town to see what surely is, in my mind, the best film of the year so far:  March of the Penguins.  We are rather mad animal lovers in our house; we are also devoted subscribers to National Geographic.  But we had never seen a film like this: every single scene left me gasping in awe at the filmmakers (who spent a year in the brutal conditions of the Antarctic) and at the beauty of the Emperor Penguins.   The film is narrated by Morgan Freeman, but I would have been happy to watch the whole thing without human voices, just listening to the sounds of wind and the water and the animals themselves.  (To be fair, the sounds of the penguins were apparently enhanced by foley artists, but that doesn't detract from the picture at all.)

Please go see this film if you live in Los Angeles or New York or Europe (where it is already playing); it will expand nationwide soon.  Though it's rated G, there are scenes that could disturb the very young ones, and move older sensitive folk to tears.  But it's a profoundly serious film for all ages, and though I don't usually turn a blog post into an advertisement for a movie, I'm doing so here today.  Honestly, I haven't cried so much in a film since the last ten minutes of Lost in Translation.

For those folks interested in conservation efforts with penguins, check out the work of Falklands Conservation, which sponsors an adopt-a-penguin program on East Falkland.*  For 25 quid, you too can adopt a King Penguin, the closest relative to the Emperor Penguins of the film.  (There are no charities currently working on wildlife conservation in Antarctica, for understandable reasons.  Let's hope that they are never necessary on our coldest continent.)  We've adopted a couple of penguins in our household at Matilde's request.  Please see the film, and if you are able, consider a contribution to the work of Falklands Conservation.

*My father, brother, sisters and I are all British citizens.  But we also have Argentine cousins who would rather we call these islands the Malvinas.  I recall that back at our Easter gathering in 1982, there were some rather tense words amongst the family at the time of the war.  And as a fan of English football, there's no team in the world I'd rather see beaten regularly than Argentina.

Comments

[Katie Wilson]

The March of the Penguins is also playing in Washington, D.C. at the E Street Cinema.

[Matthieu M]

I'm so glad someone else saw this great movie. It is truly amazing. By the way I know you teach Women's Studies and if you have not seen the film Jules & Jim I suggest you see it because of the power of a women in it. (It's one lady though)