The Penguin Lessons - a film review

 I went to live in Argentina for several months in 2007 when friends of mine decided to accompany their daughter there for a gap year before she started college. I had been there before to visit them in Bariloche, a town in Patagonia known for harboring both Nazis fleeing arrest after World War II and Argentines being chased by the military dictatorship which held the country in its grip from 1976 to 1983. That incongruity - the town is famous for its chocolates and its Swiss chalets - led me to dig into the history of the "dirty war,"  in which opponents were snatched off the street and stuffed into Ford Falcons and dropped into the ocean from helicopters, and where children were stolen from their families and given to military families to raise as their own.  I had grown up in a German-heritage family and knew a lot about evil in theory, but here now in Argentina I got to see it and feel it up close.

An old friend recommended a 2024 movie just out on Netflix called The Penguin Lessons.  It's based on a memoir of an English teacher in Buenos Aires who encounters a penguin covered in oil slick while on a vacation trip to Uruguay, cleans the penguin up and smuggles it back to Buenos Aires. The lead actor is English comedian Steve Coogan.  I began this review with the political background - the story takes place in the early days of the dictadura - because it's the elephant in the room.  A better metaphor would be to call it the weak link. The story is sweet and almost impossibly endearing - what's not to love about a penguin paddling around the house - but the fascists get let off lightly, and that keeps the film from succeeding, in my opinion.  It's still a lovely experience when you're in need of a feel-good evening in front of the screen, but it does require you to leave your conscience in check a bit.  Perhaps more than just a bit.

I wanted to find a way to tell you I'd come across a delightful film I'd like to recommend to you, but I find the encounter with fascism that we find ourselves in at present contextualizes much of how I see the world these days, and certainly makes it impossible to avoid mentioning the fascism of Argentina half a century ago that has left a permanent mark on my conscience. Like the protagonist Steve Coogan character, who fails to come to the aid of a friend as she is being arrested, I stumble around looking for a place to start, and find myself stumped over what action I can take, other than to call out what I see happening right in front of us, as a bare minimum.

Watch the film.  Enjoy the warm embrace of the characters.  Let yourself be delighted by an animal who mates for life and let your mind run free over reflections on loyalty, living with evil and deciding when to lie low and when to speak up.

Netflix.