Love is an emotion that we all know. It’s a feeling of intense affection. Can love be expressed in a movie about birds wearing tuxedos? March of the Penguins by Luc Jacquet is a beautifully crafted and enlightening depiction of penguins who sacrifice a whole year of their life in the hope of preserving their species. But the film has underlying love theme. The film’s theme of romance is revealed through two techniques: anthropomorphism (the penguins are portrayed as animals) and emotional appeal.
The way one interprets the emotion can make a huge difference. It is possible to interpret love in two different ways: romantically or deeply affectionately. There is some debate about whether penguins can feel romantic feelings towards other penguins, but they are still capable of feeling deep affection. All animals experience love as a need to attach and reproduce. Lacquet’s goal was to demonstrate the relationship between penguins through females and males, but also adult penguins. Both the mother and father penguins had a strong connection to their eggs, as one could see by watching the interactions between the two. It was evident that penguin parents felt love for their babies, as they made the familiar calls between them. So perhaps penguins don’t feel romantically towards one another, but they do have a tendency to grow awfully fond, nurturing, and deeply affectionate instead.Anthropomorphism is the concept of any object or thing to have human behaviors, or resemble a human in any way shape or form. Even though it has been proven that penguins do not love romantically, this does not change the way the audience may view love. Humans experience love both romantically and more generically. The viewer could easily see the connection of the penguins in a romantic light. Lacquet’s filming was done to create a romantic atmosphere, but it is up to the viewers to pick it out. The documentary created a romantic atmosphere by focusing on penguin relationships and then filming the footage in a way that enhanced the relationship. In scenes where two penguins stood close with their beaks turned downward, but still touching, the heart symbol was created. In an artistic manner, the heart formed by two penguins illustrates love.
The film’s emotional appeal is a way in which it expresses love. Emotional appeal and anthropomorphism are closely related. Love was portrayed in many ways. The film began with the viewers seeing penguins looking for a partner, much like humans. The film showed the penguins as adorably cute, which caused the audience to love the species. After establishing a liking for penguins, the viewers began to see the film from a different perspective, and became invested in their welfare. A parent and a penguin were another anthropomorphic but emotional attribute of the movie. The audience felt the same love for the baby as the parents did for it.
March of the Penguins, a love story film. Morgan Freeman tells us in the beginning that this film is about love. The theme of romance is conveyed many ways. Jacquet was successful in incorporating love throughout his film.