Review of March of the Penguins (2005) by Hardcastle M — 17 Dec 2009
What is amazing about this intelligible documentary is the simple fact that it was made. A few weeks back I finally saw "Winged Migration," another documentary by the French, I remember that in the very beginning they noted that no special effects were used in the making of the film.
There are no climate controlled sets, no fake snow, no CGI sunsets or panoramas, no second takes, no choreography or director's queues... What is presented is from a story board that has been repeating itself through out evolution.
What you see is everything from a group perspective considering it is practically difficult to focus on one penguin since they all look the same. This leaves the impersonal subjective view on the toll the harsh excruciating cold, sunless weeks the South Pole has on the various Emperor Penguins.
Good or bad, all this endurance is simply for what the filmmakers tell us, LOVE. "This is a love story," we are told. That leaves very little room for anything else when all you have is a film filled with snow, cold, wind, and thousands of Emperor Penguins.
Regardless of what one might conclude or get out of this, "March of the Penguins" is ultimately a testament of what one may rarely or never witness. It doesn't exsist easily in front of us and it is a great profound harsh journey to be able to witness this.
.. March of Endurance? Survival? Love.
This review of March of the Penguins (2005) was written by Hardcastle M on 17 Dec 2009.
March of the Penguins has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
