Still Life at the Penguin Cafe

Amusingly whimsical but also featuring a strong environmental message, David Bintley's ballet—set to music by Simon Jeffes—is presented in a colorful, exuberant performance by the Royal Ballet in this 1989 film made for Thames Television. In the mid-‘70s, guitarist Jeffes founded the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, a small group of instrumentalists who became successful in England playing music that combined classical and pop elements in a generally cheery minimalist style. In 1988 he adapted eight of the band's popular numbers for a ballet by Bintley that offered a gentle but incisive commentary on man's harmful impact on the environment and the animal kingdom. Introduced here by Jeremy Irons in a recorded message about the recent extinction of the great auk, the piece launches into an evening at the eponymous cafe, where penguin waiters serve a crowd of well-attired humans who engage in dance with the auk and—in succeeding scenes—a variety of other endangered species, including a ram, rat, flea, zebra, and monkey, as well as an indigenous family from the South American rainforest, before Noah's Ark makes an appearance. Each sequence benefits from Jeffes's catchy upbeat music, Bintley's imaginative choreography, and highly amusing costumes, which include elaborate masks and animal outfits. All the roles are nicely danced, while the company orchestra—under Isaiah Jackson—handles the pop idiom without missing a beat. Presented in the standard 4:3 picture format, backed by a PCM soundtrack, extras include a documentary on the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Recommended. (F. Swietek)