Steve Coogan stars in this tale of how a rescued penguin helped to transform the lives of students and staff at a prestigious boys’ school in Argentina in 1976…
Based on (or – more accurately – inspired by) the 2015 memoir of the same name, The Penguin Lessons stars Coogan as Tom Michell, a middle-aged sad sack, who takes an English teaching job in Argentina amid the political unrest of the 1970s.
At first, Michell’s ethos is ‘keep your nose out and your mouth shut’. But this becomes harder to maintain as a military coup grips the country and he finds himself de facto guardian to a persistent penguin.
After rescuing the bird from an oil spill – not for altruistic reasons; just to impress a woman – Michell finds himself stuck with it. This leads to the obligatory scenes of ‘sneaking the penguin into places’ and empty threats to send the endearing bird to a zoo.
Essentially, this a simplistic story about complicated issues, which is both a strength and weakness.
On the plus side, the drama is compact and effective. It conveys the oppressive and horrific nature of Argentina during the coup, when anyone could get swept off the street – or ‘disappeared’ – with the none too subtle ‘loss of democracy’ undercurrent.
We also get the evolution of Michell, as his tragic personal backstory intersects with his circumstances, unlocking long held emotions and forcing him to set aside his ‘stick his neck out for no-one’ veneer.
We also get a touch of Dead Poets’ Society (1989), as Michell uses the novelty of his penguin companion (named Juan Salvador) to get his underperforming students to buckle down. They even get to grips with the murky world of metaphor – especially those involving the sea and the concept of freedom.
While Coogan grows into the part, he’s a tough protagonist to latch on to, especially pre-penguin, as he trudges around keeping the world at arm’s length and being pretty unpleasant.
The human supporting characters are largely under-developed, with Jonathan Pryce as the school’s stiff headmaster and Björn Gustafsson offering some light relief as the Scandinavian chemistry teacher pining for his ex-wife.
The exception is Vivian El Jaber, who adds much needed warmth and authenticity to proceedings as Michell’s housekeeper whose granddaughter gets ‘disappeared’.
Of course, the penguin is the star of the show – whether gulping sprats, waddling around, or calmly watching the world go by with simple curiosity. The mere presence of this placid, unexpected guest has the effect of engaging the kids and getting the adults to open up – in fact, the penguin turns out to be a great listener!
The ending wraps things up a little too neatly but there’s a lovely little section at the end which highlights the real story that inspired the fictional narrative.
Overall, this is a charming tale efficiently told, which blends its serious historical context with plenty of penguin-inspired whimsy.
Writer takeaway
The Penguin Lessons highlights how departing from the source material is sometimes necessary to make a story work.
In this case, Coogan’s character is several decades older than his real-life counterpart, who had his penguin encounter in his 20s. This allows for the development of the backstory, which involves (spoilers) the death of his daughter several years previously.
This helps to make an unsympathetic protagonist more relatable by giving us a reason for his ‘arm’s length’ personality. It also allows the writers to connect Michell’s experiences in Argentina with his past tragedy, raising the emotional stakes and making the narrative stronger when his housekeeper’s granddaughter is disappeared.