It is a long journey that the penguins undertake to find a mate for one single season with whom they strive to nurture one egg into a new hatched life.  This is a journey that could easily cost the penguins' lives, as freezing weather selects those who have fallen behind, or commenced their journey too late, to fall under bone-chilling gales and blizzards.  Through the opportunity to observe these penguins a notion rises that the penguins must coexists with nature in a delicate balance where life and death weigh equal.  Death cannot be considered a cruel enemy stalking them for the purpose of evil, but as an opportunity for natural selection to take its course and strengthen the Emperor penguins position in nature.

From the safe distance of an air conditioned theater the audience can observe several penguins struggling for survival.  It is a rough cinematic journey to see these penguins struggling for survival against the freezing weather, starvation, and predators.  In some aspects, it even seems absurd in the perspective of a being a human.  Yet, it is within the illogical reasoning out of a humans point of view that mankind must realize its powerful position in the global ecosystem.  Humans have over an extended time continued to destroy nature in a progressive manner through exploitation, toxic waste disposal, and other natural disasters created by man, which many parts of the human society still deny.  The aftermath could change the environmental balance for the penguins, and only a slight change could have a disastrous effect on the existence of the Emperor penguin.  The film does not deal directly with mankind's influence on nature, but the notion lingers throughout the film.

Once the penguins reached the location of mating it is hard to believe that love can take place in such a place where natural selection and death are as common as snow.  Through extensive courtship the females pick their mating male with whom they attempt to have an egg.  When the egg is delivered the female teaches the male how to handle the egg, as the body heat from the penguin is the only thing that keeps the chick safe inside the egg.  One prolonged scene, displays the repercussion of careless penguin couple, as the egg slowly breaks from the freezing temperatures.  The painful images of watching the egg break continue to stir in the mind of the audience, as the male penguins are left to care for the eggs while the females return to the ocean to get food for the soon hatched chick.

Morgan Freeman's voice narrates the American version with tactfulness and objectivity to the many situations.  There are moments that will bring laughter through cute tumbling penguins while other scenes will slash through the heart with agonizing sorrow.  Watching the penguins huddling together for heat, feeding the chicks, and wandering together illustrates a very compassionate atmosphere, even if it is freezing.  There are also genuine moments of care and affection delivered between the penguins, which could be felt all the way into the hearts of the viewers.  The iciness of Antarctica cannot overpower the love that the Emperor penguin has for life, as this film will genuinely stir the emotions and notions within the audience in many different ways.

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

USA / France

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