GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR : Luc Jacquet’s ‘March of the Penguins’ [6/10]

Published on: December 6th, 2005

A smash hit in its native France and an unexpected box-office success in the US, wildlife documentary March of the Penguins - following the against-all-odds breeding habits of the Emperor penguin over the course of one year in Antarctica – might not quite hit the same kind of heights here in the UK. The film, which earns its 'U' certificate by implying rather than showing the creatures mating, and by keeping toddler-upsetting 'predator activity' to a minimum – will no doubt prove very popular with parents eager to show their children that there's more to the cinema this Christmas than the CGI-heavy, two-hour-plus delights of Narnia, Kong and Potter. And the kids themselves will surely fall for the endearingly cute, indomitably brave critters – with no realistic prospect of the "I want one of those!" reaction and its unfortunate consequences which have attended the likes of 101 Dalmatians.

British audiences, however, are routinely exposed to very similar fare on TV – most notably in the justifiably venerated BBC programmes by Sir David Attenborough including 1993's Life in the Freezer which covered similar icy terrain. It's a testament to the achievement of Jacquet and his team that the camerawork in March of the Penguins regularly matches and, on some occasions, even perhaps exceeds the remarkably high level set and maintained over the decades by the BBC's teams. But Jacquet and company fall far short in terms of the soundtrack: Alex Wurman's incessant score prods us towards the 'appropriate' emotion in every sequence, whereas Attenborough's films are sparing – even ascetic – in their use of music.

And while Morgan Freeman does a solid enough job narrating Jordan Roberts' script, we never lose sight of the fact that, no matter how eminent a thespian he is, and no matter how authoritative he sounds, he is 'just' an actor reading out 'just' another script. Attenborough, on the other hand, is invariably there on the ground, often narrating without notes from the actual site of the action itself – and when he records his commentary later in the studio it's all his own insight, knowledge and work. Falling short of the daunting Attenborough standard is no disgrace, of course. And Jacquet does have one major advantage over the BBC, in that he has the time and money to concentrate on one particular species, whereas the British TV programmes must almost always several different animals within a single show. This yields many dividends, and the audience is able to get a real feel for the astonishing way in which the penguins have adapted to the "harshest environment on Earth."

Any viewer who reads a newspaper or uses the internet will, however, be all too aware that the unique nature of this environment is coming under immediate and grave threat from the effects of global warming – or "climate change" to use the approved Newspeak term. Every time we hear the word "ice" in March of the Penguins, we wonder how the penguins will fare if Antarctica continues to heat up at its current rate. Of course, the simple act of making such a film – and, through savvy marketing, getting it seen so widely – can only help in terms of focussing attention on the polar regions and their hardy, imperilled inhabitants. But it seems odd, perhaps even perverse, to make absolutely no reference to this peril within the film itself: not even a single quietly informative end-title card, such as the one deployed so effectively at the end of Jean-Jacques Annaud's tiger epic Two Brothers (a very different kind of wildlife movie, but which also found box-office success in its native France). J

acquet has defended his silence on the issue by saying he wants to let the birds "speak" for themselves, which is fair enough. Any responsible parent or guardian taking their child to see the film will surely want to discuss the various issues raised – and there's a veritable banquet of food for thought on the evolution vs 'intelligent design' debate – and use March of the Penguins as an introduction to further learning. It's a sad fact, however, that not every adult will have the time or inclination to perform such a vital task – and Jacquet wouldn't have been amiss in including just one line about melting ice-caps, dwindling fish-stocks or the like. The success of the film means Jacquet has now the world's attention: a pity that his film tells only half the tale.

Neil Young
6th December, 2005

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS : [6/10] : La marche de l'empereur : France (Fr/US) 2005 : Luc JACQUET : 84 mins
seen at The Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK), 6th December 2005 – press show