March of the Penguins

This phenomenally popular documentary hardly needs my endorsement, but I am pleased to give it. Just the colors of Antarctic sky and icescape are sufficient recommendation, but the birds themselves are a beautiful nature study. The narration was not as saccharine as I feared, though it was wincingly anthropomorphic at times. The storyline is strong enough and Morgan Freeman gives it enough gravity, that the narration does not disrupt the natural fascination of the subject, though it is, like the visuals, sanitized of messy details for a G-rating. The overlay of “family values” may have made this play in the heartland, but if your eyes are open this is a paean to evolution’s mystery and the majesty of the reproductive urge. What organisms will do to propagate in a harsh environment! The dvd extras approach the same material from a less fairytale perspective -- conveying the total cacophony and stench of a scrum of emperor penguins, and some of their less exemplary behavior -- and are as immersive as the film itself. (2005, dvd, n.) *7* (MC-79, RT-95.)