penguins

I watched March of the Penguins tonight for the first time. Yesterday evening I watched the supplementary material on the DVD.

I enjoyed the documentary though I didn't feel myself all that affected by it personally. I've been told by others that they cried at parts--but after watching I can't figure out where. Maybe it was Morgan Freeman's voice--he was very matter-of-fact about it all--or maybe it was the funny way they walk, but I never felt emotionally connected to the cute buggers. In one of those smaltzy Disney movies they follow one family and you connect, but here it's a real documentary and that personal involvement is missing. At least it was for me.

Regardless, it was a very good picture just not as emotionally moving as I was expecting. I guess I shouldn't believe all of what I hear and read, huh? If I'd watched it not having heard about it beforehand I'd have been delighted, I'm sure. As it turned out, I liked the documentary Of Penguins and Men: The incredible filmmaking process of the movie more than the feature film.

Both documentaries were filmed by a French team that spent one year in Antartica on this project. While that's a long time to endure the harsh conditions there, I guess it's better than the 20 years that the average Emperor Penguin spends there. To paraphrase Thomas Hobbes: life is continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. It seems penguins have the same lot in life as man did in the Hobbesian State of Nature. A constant struggle with little in the way of rewards--but they sure look beautiful and full of grace when they swim.

Anyway, the documentary about the making of the film features a voiceover by one of the French cinematographers and his voice is as poetic as the script he reads. Reads isn't an adequate description---he feels the words out loud and their truth hits you like a stone. LOL At times it's way over the top but I found that version far more moving than the more polished version of the film. The cinematic release is more beautiful in a polished Hollywood fashion but in a way that holds back somewhat from the experience. One place the cinematic release is better though is with the sound effects from nature. That part is often haunting with the cries of the birds, the wind, and even the ice itself pouring over the viewer. Wow.