Penguin Lessons

Last Sunday Alejandro and I saw a movie called "Lecciones de un pingüino" (The Penguin Lessons).

 

(image taken from the internet)

We had seen the trailers for the film on earlier visits to the movie theater, and we wanted to see it when it came out.  It sounded like a sweet, cutsey movie.

The movie stars Steve Coogan, a British actor and comedian with whom I was not familiar.  He plays an Englishman who has taken a position teaching at an exclusive private high school in Argentina.  On a visit to a beach, he discovers a bunch of dead penguins, covered in oil from a spill.  One is still alive, and he rescues it and cleans it.  Although he tries to return the bird to the sea, it refuses to leave the man's side.  The penguin adopts him and eventually becomes the beloved mascot of the school.

It is indeed a sweet, sentimental film, but it also has a deeper side that we did not expect.  It takes place during the military coup d'état and subsequent dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s. The disappearance of political opponents is an element of the plot.

The movie is based on a memoir of the same name.  Although the filmmakers took a lot of liberties with the true story, it is still an enjoyable movie.  I recommend it (if it is still playing in theaters in the United States).