March of the Penguins (2005)

aka La marche de l’empereur

2007 #49
Luc Jacquet | 77 mins | DVD | U / G

March of the PenguinsOne of the most surprising hits at the box office in 2005, as you’re probably aware this is a documentary about penguins. Specifically, it’s about their mating cycle — there’s little information outside of that. It does manage to touch on the sex, death and violence inherent in most nature things though, albeit in a family-friendly U-rated kind of way.

In fact, it’s a film very much about the story of the mating cycle, rather than about information-giving. Along with beautiful shots of Antarctica and cute shots of baby penguins, I suspect this is why it was more of a hit than a straight-up informative documentary would have been.

4 out of 5