Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Lee Eisenberg We often hear about penguins and sometimes see them in zoos. But not until you see them in their natural habitat do you get a true sense of what their lives are. The Academy Award-winning documentary "La marche de l'empereur" ("March of the Penguins" in English) shows a number of emperor penguins walking - and sometimes sliding - back to their breeding ground for the winter. And remember, this is an Antarctic winter. The documentary tugs at the heart occasionally, since not every member of the group survives. After all, there's no room for error in Antarctica's winter.I understand that in some countries, the documentary gets narrated in first person, as though the penguins are conversing with each other. Since I've only seen the English-language version, I only heard third-person narration by - who else? - Morgan Freeman. Whatever the case, this is one impressive documentary. It deserved its Oscar win (although it did have strong competition in Alex Gibney's documentary about Enron). Good one.

classicsoncall If this weren't a true nature story, I don't think you would be able to make it up and have anyone believe you. What the Emperor Penguin goes through for the sake of keeping the species alive is nothing short of extraordinary. Virtually every revelation about their habits is astounding and almost too numerous to mention. A seventy mile hike to their breeding grounds in the Antarctic is just the beginning of their amazing adventure, as narrator Morgan Freeman takes the viewer through the penguins' mating ritual, the competition between females for the male's attention, how they maintain some semblance of warmth in sub-freezing temperatures, the transference of eggs from the female to the male to keep them safe, and the eventual birth of the chicks. It's astounding that the parent birds go for months at a time without food during this ordeal, compounded by the harsh reality of retracing their long march to feed and bring food back for the baby penguins.As I'm usually curious about what negative reviewers have to say, (because there's always someone), I guess I can sympathize with those who say they found this documentary boring. It does move slow at times, but I fail to understand why anyone wouldn't find the subject matter fascinating. It's not like the eighty minute run time intrudes on one's life to such a degree that one can't pay attention. I did find a particular scene that came across as kind of comical to me. It was a specific shot of the massive penguin colony huddled together against the cold, and the way the camera caught them in the sunlight with their blue-gray backs and distinct body markings, it looked like a stadium full of Navy cadets assembled for a football game!

mariamru Great the way it was transmitted the emperor penguin march, there is nothing but admiration for the determination of these animals, they overcome enormous obstacles, to return to their breeding grounds and begin the mating season, becoming heroes. I think Jacquet with his history could make us feel somehow related to the rituals of penguins, because the movie gave the Penguins a series of human records: they were funny, romantic, tender, awkward, sad and playful. The film ensures stunning images full of beauty, a lot of emotion and empathy for these animals. The film is a success in terms of showing the necessary without being long and tedious, showing the crude reality but in a beautiful way focusing on the wonder of nature.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) I recently watched director Luc Jacquet's newest movie about trees and thought it would also be time to see his Academy Award winning documentary centered on penguins. I found out that i knew nothing about these wonderful animals and their strenuous march. Those moments where they meet coincidentally and when they "kiss" each other were simply perfect. As great as these moments were, there are also a few sad ones: such as the unsuccessful hatching from the unexperienced penguins. And of course once gotten out of the eggs, the little penguins are just too cute. I watched the German dubbed version and thought the voice actors for father and mother penguin did an amazing job. Their voices were so soothing. I did not like the young penguin's voice initially, but it grew on me a bit. I read that for the American version, Morgan Freeman did the narration. While he is usually a great narrator, I imagine it difficult to convey the same emotions as they were done here when we had different narrators for mother and father penguin.From the visual aspect, this documentary is a must see: giant ice sheets and we here chilly, almost dreamlike music. It is just too awesome how the little penguins slide over them on their bellies while making the most amazing noises. It is truly funny to see the penguins walking right behind one another as if they were standing in an almost never-ending queue and they are making funny moves with their heads all the time. When they finally reached the place they were born themselves, they are looking for a partner to father/mother their baby penguins in the future. As there is usually more female penguins than males, there can be quite heavy physical arguments about who gets the male, but once they found each other they hold their beaks very close to one another and softly tough each other with their beaks as well to signalize they belong together for the coming months. The noise we hear in the movie from the penguins is almost robot-like. Those who are alone have not succeeded though and they may not have the slightest chance of survival (one of the saddest scenes the dark penguin shadow in the blood-red sky) as the huge quantity of mating penguins creates warmth that keeps each other alive against these icy temperatures at the South Pole.At the beginning of June, the egg is laid and it needs to be covered immediately by the amazingly fluffy belly fur of the penguins as otherwise the beating heart inside cannot survive against the cold or the shell may break and make all the struggles for nothing. That is why many eggs with broken shells can be seen, given up by the parents who are on their way back to the sea. When they manage to keep the egg intact though, the father starts keeping it warm for two months while the mother is off to the sea collecting fish. It is truly a smart way in which all the males keep rotating so that everybody gets to be inside the group at some point protected by the warmth from the penguins around him and won't have to freeze. Of course the mothers are in danger too. If they get attacked and killed by seals, the egg is lost as well without the father knowing. If the father does not get fish in time, he will have to give up the egg and go to the sea himself in order to stay alive.So lets summarize. The first march is towards the place where they were born and the mating takes place. The second march is the mother going back to the sea getting fish. And the third march is the mother returning to her penguin boyfriend and hopefully intact egg. That third march takes place during darkness, so it an amazing display of orientation. During that time, the father has not eaten for four months and lost half his weight. He is forced to give up the egg any day if the mother will not come soon.Roughly at minute 40 you can see a small beak looking out of the egg and the baby penguins begin to hatch. Cuteness galore. The father regurgitates a white substance that the baby penguin eats right out of his father's throat. The mother arrives and sees the little penguin for the first time. The penguin family is reunited finally. It is amazingly cute to watch this little fluffy gray penguin ball stumbles across the ice. But even there, it is not safe yet. Many parents lose their freshly-hatched penguins to the cold and are so devastated that they try to take other penguins from their parents simply because they cannot cope with the loss they experienced. The noises they make while mourning are pretty heartbreaking as well. And besides the cold there is another danger: skuas (big gulls) who try to catch some of the tiny penguins and eat them. The parents have to give everything to protect them. At the end, we see the young penguins, slightly grown up already leaving together, occasionally jumping on their bellies just like their parents did. They will probably never see their parents again and not much later their own endeavor of marching towards becoming parents is about to start."La marche de l'empereur" is a wonderful wildlife documentary and I can't recommend it enough. Unless you are an ultimate expert on penguins, you will learn so much about them. I'm happy I decided to give it a watch.