The Penguin Lessons

In terms of form, it is Jean Reno's "My Penguin Friend" + "Dead Poets Society". The story is about the real events of the penguins superimposed on the horror background of the military government, and an artificial warm ending that British movies are good at. This makes people feel that the creative logic of this story is because they feel that the real penguin class story is too thin, so they try their best to add multiple meanings to the existence of penguins. In the end, the penguin became the link between the protagonist and everyone, the emotional food of the students, and the secret weapon to turn danger into safety. At the same time, it also has to bear the protagonist's allusion to his feelings in an unfamiliar environment. This responsibility is a bit too heavy. The film's allusion to the military government is also implicit, and it is not well compatible with the main line. The girl's return in the end is very dramatic, which makes the story have a strong fairy tale attribute. If some choices are appropriately abandoned, and the filming in Buenos Aires (the set of the film is too unsuccessful) may help the film perform better. But then again, the old lady and granddaughter line (although it may be purely fabricated to a large extent) is still delicate and makes people cry.

In my opinion, most people in that era probably lived this kind of life. Even if there was a military coup, even if thousands or tens of thousands of people were arrested, I still had to go to class every day, the cleaner who lost his daughter would occasionally come to my house for dinner, and I would still buy fish to feed the penguins until the fish seller was also arrested. This was the normal life of most people in that era. Looking back at history, that period was called the Argentine coup, and from the perspective of people at that time, they were just trying to survive. But these ordinary people may not be able to rise like lions as described in the poem, and can only go alone to talk to government officials, be scolded, and then be arrested the next day, which is useless. This is reality, there is no heroic story, only reality. But I still like what the girl said: I don't care if the bad guys do all the bad things, but if the good guys stand by and watch, I will want to punch them. It's enough for people to live with such a heart.

A father who lost his daughter, a teacher, left his family and homeland to teach English in various parts of South America to make a living. In an almost chaotic and closed state, he was redeemed by teachers and workers in a school in Argentina, a woman he met by chance while traveling, and a penguin. In the end, he gained his own freedom. It feels very much like Dead Poets Society, but with a grander background of the times. Perhaps the real relationship between people is the antidote. Some expressions can only happen in movies, and some historical similarities will also allow people of different races to understand each other infinitely. Thanks to the movie

A middle-aged man, a cute penguin, and a gentle adventure in a turbulent era.

I originally thought it was a light-hearted and healing comedy, like "The Penguin and the Fisherman", which would make you laugh and cry at the same time, but after watching it, I found that it was more like a mirror, reflecting the cruelty of that era and ourselves.

What makes me most uncomfortable is that this is not a "hero's story", it is just about an ordinary person struggling, changing, and trying to become better little by little in troubled times - and isn't this process the daily life of most of us?

Not everyone can be a hero, but everyone can be a good person. The story is simple. A British teacher was thrown into a noble school by fate during the turbulent times in Argentina. He just wanted to make a living, not to get involved in other people's affairs, and even didn't bother to remember the names of his students. As a result, a penguin contaminated by oil broke into his life and changed his world.

This penguin is not here to make people laugh. It is like a "catalyst" that gradually stimulates the teacher's inner depression, guilt and courage.

He went from being an apathetic, avoidant adult to being the one who would stand up for others.

The line that touched me the most was: "I don't care if a bad guy does all the bad things, but if a good guy just stands by and watches, I want to punch him."

This sentence is the soul of the whole movie.

Cute penguins are more than just mascots To be honest, at first I thought the penguin was just a cute tool, but it turned out to be the emotional core that connects the entire movie.

The relationship between it and its teacher is both funny and sad.

At first the teacher disliked it and wanted to send it away; but in the end, because of it, the classroom became lively, students began to like classes, and even the teacher learned love and responsibility.

There is one scene in particular that I remember: penguins were wandering around the classroom, the children couldn’t help but giggle, the sun was shining on the floor, and the whole world was quiet at that moment.

You will feel that no matter how turbulent or terrifying the outside world is, as long as there is a little bit of tenderness here, people can survive.

The background of the times is the heaviest background The film is set during Argentina's military regime in 1976, when many people disappeared for unknown reasons. Parades, crackdowns, and gunfire in the streets were commonplace.

But this film does not describe too much horror directly. Instead, it uses "absence" to make you realize that the real fear is that you don't know who will be the next person to get into trouble.

A colleague joked: My wife ran away today, and it will be my turn tomorrow.

You can't laugh, but you feel even more sad.

The cleaner of the teacher's landlord suddenly disappeared one day. When she came back, she found out that she was arrested for pleading for her daughter. And the teacher finally mustered up the courage to fight against the system for her - not a heroic resistance, but a natural awakening of human nature.

The last scene, I cried The ending is very restrained, yet emotionally powerful.

The penguin died, and the girl came back. You thought it was a happy ending, but it wasn’t. It was “life goes on”.

The teacher did not save the world, but he saved himself.

And that penguin was like the gentlest breeze in his life.

“I’m sad, but I’m happy that I’m sad,” he said.

Because I can finally feel sadness, and I am finally willing to admit that I am a person who "has feelings".

It's not great, but it's sincere. Some people criticize it for being too gentle and fairy-tale-like. I don’t deny that it is not a masterpiece that deeply exposes darkness, but this is actually its charm.

It tells the story of the normal life of ordinary people in abnormal times.

Aren't we all the same? We are not great men, and we can't save others. We can only try to get by. But if we can choose kindness, love and protection in the process, that's already amazing.

Just like what the old lady said in the film: No matter how chaotic the world is, you still have to prepare breakfast for your children tomorrow.

May we all become the one who raises penguins After watching this movie, I especially want to give a thumbs up to those people who used to work silently, were not ostentatious, and were even a little timid but finally stood up.

The world may not change because of this, but we can avoid becoming the kind of people we hate.

You don't have to be a hero, you can just be someone who is willing to take care of a penguin in the midst of chaos.

The protagonist of this film brought the loneliness and desolation of the sunset of the British Empire to a pro-British aristocratic school in Argentina to teach English. During this period, there were three emotional changes, including "an isolated privileged white man experiencing bloody turmoil in a developing country", "the moral awakening of a detached cynic" and "sad, unpleasant people become friendlier after taking care of someone or something"... Each emotional change can be shot in a separate film, but this film just wants to pack them all at once. This kind of both want and want makes it impossible for me to focus on a certain emotion. The penguin coming to the world is equivalent to the British coming to Argentina. The turbulent situation only touched the bottom role of the school worker, and did not touch other classes of the aristocratic school. This penguin actually had a video record left in that era. It can be imagined that the school is rich. Inserting the narrative of the persecution of the bottom in such an environment also makes it difficult for the audience to integrate into the story. The English teacher relies on the penguin, teaches Shelley's poems, integrates into the local environment, and becomes a real good person, but think about the Falklands War that will start soon. Where will he go then?