Movie: The Penguin Lessons

Combining a story about a cute Magellanic penguin with the bloodshed of Argentina’s Dirty War to create a feel-good movie was always going to be fraught with danger.

Yet director Peter Cattaneo (Military Wives and the Fully Monty) succeeds in achieving this in the comedy/drama, The Penguin Lessons.

What helps is the work of the movie’s star, Steve Coogan, and a penguin called Juan Salvador (although several penguins were apparently used during filming).

The movie is also inspired by a true story – that of Tom Mitchell whose experiences are recounted in his memoir The Penguin Lessons.

Mitchell’s home-made movies which screen at the end of the film add to its credibility and appeal.

The Penguin Lessons tells of the time Mitchell (Coogan) spent as an English teacher at a boarding school in Buenos Aires attended by the sons of the country’s wealthy families.

Mitchell’s arrival in 1976 occurs at a time of great uncertainty with the military’s coup d’état against Argentina president Isabel Perón imminent.

On his arrival at the school, and after his first meeting with the school’s principal Buckle (Jonathan Pryce), it’s clear Mitchell is grumpy, cynical and disillusioned with the world and is just looking for an easy ride.

The lack of discipline within his classroom and conversations with fellow teacher Michel (Björn Gustafsson) from Finland and the school’s cleaner Maria (Vivian El Jaber) further confirm this view.

His life changes after, given a week’s holiday when the coup occurs, he and Michel head to Uruguay for a break.

In order to impress a woman he meets at a nightclub he helps save an oil soaked penguin (later named Juan Salvador) the two discover while walking on the beach.

After unsuccessfully trying on several occasions to get the penguin to return to the ocean, Mitchell ends up bringing it back to Buenos Aires and his room at the school – ignoring the strict no pet policy.

Given its smell and toiletry habits, Juan Salvador is discovered by Maria and her granddaughter, Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio).

Still trying to keep the penguin a secret from the headmaster Mitchell starts using Juan Salvador as a teaching aide with encouraging results.

Initially trying to ignore the terrible events occurring outside the school gates Mitchell’s attitude changes when Sofia, like so many others, is taken off the street by the police only metres from where he is standing. His lack of action in trying to save her haunts him.

Around the same time Juan Salvador escapes and is discovered by the headmaster who is none too impressed with Mitchell for having the penguin and for his increasingly politicised lessons.

Mitchell is sacked but then as a result of several events Buckle changes his mind and Juan Salvador becomes an important teaching tool in all subjects and for all students at the school.

The Penguin Lessons has been criticised in some quarters for making light of the horrific death toll in Argentina as a result of the military junta. If you see the movie as being about this period then the criticism may be warranted although after seeing the home footage of Juan Salvador swimming in the school’s pool at the end of the movie we are informed that thousands were captured and either disappeared or were killed during this period.

However, if you see the movie about an emotionally damaged and world-weary individual whose world changes as a result of his relationship with a penguin and the humans around him then it’s probably not.

There’s also the joy of watching Coogan at the top of his game. His deadpan comic timing creates many of the movie’s funny scenes while the pain and cynicism he feels as a result of ‘life experiences’ are also expertly portrayed.  He is ably supported by excellent performances from  Gustafsson, Pryce and El Jaber and of course Juan Salvador!

The Penguin Lessons opens in cinemas around Australia on April 17.