The way The Penguin Lessons has been advertised makes it seem like a sweet, unlikely animal story. In some ways, it is that, but not only is it unabashedly charming, it’s also surprisingly timely.
Steve Coogan plays disengaged, white English teacher Tom Michell, who takes a new position at an Argentinian boys’ school in the 1970s during the country’s military dictatorship. He’s not interested in getting to know the faculty or his students, and regularly bows out of conversations and doesn’t seem to care if his students are listening or not.
When he travels to Uruguay after classes are ceased due to military violence, he saves a Magellanic penguin in order to impress a woman. Instead of leaving the country with a new conquest, he leaves with the flightless bird after it wouldn’t let him go quietly. Intent on dropping him off at the zoo, Tom hides the bird in his apartment.
The penguin, later named Juan Salvador, draws the attention of his gruff cleaning lady, Maria (Vivian El Jaber), and her granddaughter, Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio). They get the bird to eat, and the latter’s activist ideals excite Tom and warm him to his new environment. He eventually takes Juan Salvador into his classroom, unbeknownst to Head Master Buckle (Jonathan Pryce). However, the passive life Tom has built for himself crumbles when Sofia is taken in broad daylight.
The Penguin Lessons is slow in the beginning, and it takes a while for its namesake to show up onscreen, but once it does, a poignant little movie about building and supporting community starts to emerge. There are moments in this film that talk about standing up in the face of fascism that are surprising and meaningful. It never feels saccharine or trite, and while its ending is convenient, Tom’s overall arc is moving.
There’s no way Sony Pictures and director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) knew who the United States President was going to be when the film was made. Sure, fascism has knocked on many nations’ doors over the last couple of years. But to have a movie that so openly calls out the “innocent bystander”, the person who sits back and says nothing when the lines of power are crossed, is important and captivating. So sit down and watch a penguin movie over the weekend and join the revolution.
The Penguin Lessons is playing in theaters this Friday from Sony Pictures Classics. Watch the trailer below
