23/48
This moving drama from director Peter Cattaneo, starring Oscar nominee Steve Coogan, follows the personal and political awakening of an Englishman after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. “I used to be young and idealistic,” says Tom, a new teacher at a boarding school in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1976, “but I soon learned that reality was different.” Dull, self-indulgent and unsentimental, Tom is unmoved by any stories or facts of suffering. He makes excuses for his shortcomings and inaction. Yet when penguins washed up on the beach, coated in industrial oil, and fascists seize power in a coup, Tom is in for a profound awakening, despite his own idiocy. Steve Coogan (Tom) and Jonathan Pryce star in this true story of wit, warmth and counterintuition. discovery, humor, drama, and endearing penguin antics. The dialogue, characters, story, and acting have real depth. Penguin Lessons was filmed in Spain with an Argentinian cast. Many of the actors were survivors of the recent dictatorship in Argentina, adding to the authenticity of the story. At the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, I was deeply moved by the realization that just one person, a penguin, can change the world in the face of such evil and tragedy. Rise like lions from their slumber In invincible numbers Shake your chains to the ground like dew that has fallen on you in your sleep. You are many, they are few., – Shelley.
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