[Pic – Aaton]
One word. Rocks. Ofcourse, Antartica has ice rocks and glaciers but this is about the Emperor Penguins. Most of us who know penguins only as symbols of Linux, would have a mind shift after watching this dazzling flick.
Luc Jacquet, the director and his crew spent around a year in the icy antartica to shoot this film, March of the Penguins, which chronicles a part of penguins’ lifecycle. At the end of this hearty flick, not only would one fall in love with the penguin bird but also appreciate the risks taken by the crew, during the shoot. Though we all sub-consciously agree that this world has evolved and it’s all about survival of the fittest, its tough to envison how emperor penguins evolved and survived the worst winters of the earth. Writer Ashokamitran once said, A flourishing life is one which is made up of small sacrifices. If one would agree with this, penguins nearly sacrifice their lives for their kids by sheltering them from the winter winds. Father Penguins go more than 4 months without food as they are busy keeping their kids warm. The unique role reversal of penguins is also shot and documented very convincingly.
The reason I am so damn thrilled is also because of the impeccable narration that fits the moving images. Morgan Freeman, my most favorite hollywooder, not only reads the script but also emotes it with his voice, so damn well. He gives life and soul with every stress and pause. Also, the add-on short film, Mens and Penguins which details the making of the film, is also a must watch. If you haven’t watched, do watch atleast for the sheer effort of film-making. Do watch. Do watch.
P.S – If this one gets dubbed in Tamil, an apt title, Thavamai Thavamirundhu.
kirukkal.com 
11 responses to “March of the Penguins”
What connects “The Shawshank Redemption”, “Million Dollar Baby” and “March of the Penguins”?
Narrated by Morgan (God) Freeman. “…not only reads the script but also emotes it with his voice, so damn well. He gives life and soul with every stress and pause…”
HOW TRUE, HOW TRUE!
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” If this one gets dubbed in Tamil, an apt title, Thavamai Thavamirundhu ”
Nobody can come up with a better title than this :))
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It is dubbed in all indian languages. Big B is lending voice.
In Tamil its Nizhalgal Ravi.
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not thavamai thavamirundhu!!
It will be nadayaai nadayirundhu.
🙂
Looking forward to see this one.
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Actually it is not such an interesting documentary to speak about. The only reason it became such a big-hit is because of unabashed marketing and dearth of other features during it’s release. I would take “Flight of Birds” over Penguins anyday.
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hemmm…must be good. will get the dvd.
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man, you liked it too? I can see your point abt the efforts involved in following those Penguins in the cold and taking a movie like that, but I was exhausted after the movie. The penguins need a better strategy to have safe sex.
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This is more like a documentary made for TV than a movie. I think one can wait to catch it on National geographic channel eventually.
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LG,
My wife had been to Cape Town on project and she saw some Cape Penguins over there. Needless to say, she was thrilled to bits to see them chattering about and in general, making a huge cacophony out of nothing. It sometimes is a nice thing to watch animals making noise. It is a life that they are living. I happened to see Emperor Penguins in one of the zoos at Texas – either San Antonio, Houston or Galveston. They were kept in a simulated environment that looked like Antartica.
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Also, wanted to mention about Morgan Freeman. Complete agreement with Krithika. His voice is magic!
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The film captured the sheer patience, depth, grit and determination of the will to survive…against all & any odds. As the credit rolled, I couldn’t help but recall this:
“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Set aside all inclinations to watch a slam bang action flick to savour a gem of a visual experience…one that requires a little patience and a whole lot of heart.
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