March of the Penguins

The extraordinary mating ritual of the emperor penguins is documented in this fascinating, visually enthralling film by Luc Jacquet, who spent more than a year in Antarctica filming the flightless birds as they left their sea home and trekked over the ice-covered terrain to their breeding ground, where they paired off. But that's just the beginning: after laying the eggs, the females turn them gingerly over to their male partners, who shelter the eggs beneath their bodies in the frigid environment while the females waddle back to the sea to secure nourishment for the fledglings that will have hatched when they return (later, the newly formed families travel back to the sea together). Like many nature documentaries, March of the Penguins has a tendency to sometimes anthropomorphize what's actually a natural (if incredible) occurrence, bandying about words like “concern” and “love” to refer to the birds' conduct. But the narration, penned by Jordan Roberts and voiced by Morgan Freeman with a proper mixture of bemused astonishment and scientific detachment, mostly avoids that impulse, and the images captured by Jacquet and his team are often breathtaking, sometimes haunting, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Highly recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include the 54-minute “making-of” documentary “Of Penguins and Men,” “National Geographic's Crittercam: Emperor Penguins” (24 min.), the classic Looney Tunes cartoon “8 Ball Bunny” (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an excellent doc.] (F. Swietek)