Peter Cattaneo’s Delightful ‘The Penguin Lessons’ Confronts Fascism and Classism With Wit and Kindness 

Alci Rengifo

In “The Penguin Lessons,” Steve Coogan plays a character we seem to instantly recognize. He is a teacher who has become jaded and figures he can coast through a cushy new job, only to realize he’s in a new place with fresh life lessons to learn. Director Peter Cattaneo and his frequent writer-collaborator Jeff Pope take what’s familiar and it into a welcoming experience, finding a few ways to also hit back at fascism. There is a sincerity present that no doubt owes a little to the source material. Pope’s script is based on a memoir by Tom Michell, and so the movie is vibrant with the quirkiness of those little adventures life can throw at you. 

Coogan plays Tom Michell, a British teacher of English who finds a position waiting for him at an elite private school in Argentina. It is 1976 and the country is being shaken by social conflict. The Montoneros guerrilla movement is making the ruling class nervous and rumors of a military coup fill the air. Tom is oblivious to it, which is fine with the school’s uptight headmaster (Jonathan Pryce). His one requirement is to make sure his class, mostly composed of the oligarchy’s offspring, learns good English. Soon enough there is indeed a coup and a right-wing military regime takes power, which doesn’t affect the school much at first. Tom even takes a weekend trip to Uruguay with a colleague (Björn Gustafsson) in desperate need of some female advice. After a fun night, Tom walks down the beach with a woman he met at a club and they come across the remnants of an oil spill along a beach. They also find a live penguin covered in the substance. To look nice, Tom takes the penguin back to his room and cleans him up. The animal becomes attached to the jaded teacher, following him back to Argentina.

“There were a lot of pitfalls to making this film,” Catteneo told Entertainment Voice. “There was the comedy, the history, the penguin and marrying all that together. Audiences have been surprised. They see the marketing and see Steve Coogan with a penguin and assume it’s something else. Then they walk out surprised.” In essence this is a film about genuine learning. Tom must learn to drop his cynical view of life, mostly shaped by a lost marriage and other wounds, while his students must be enlightened to the complexities of everything. Some of them can be bullies, repeating the fascist slogans of their military parents, even playing games using the language they hear referring to tortured political prisoners. Even the headmaster, who has a strict no pets policy, will eventually find it hard to turn away the lovable penguin, who the students name Juan Salvador. Pope’s script is a lesson in warmth without corniness. The dialogue never descends into cheesy clichés. 

On the contrary, sometimes the material can take on potent political stances and resonance. “Certainly as a European, as a person in Great Britain, we have seen how close we came to being a Nazi state in the 1930s and there are far right parties all over the continent,” said Catteneo, “it’s just coincidence the relevance of the story, but it does make you think of how far things can go if we’re not careful.” Tom meets the daughter of the school’s housekeeper, Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio), a young activist involved with the underground against the regime. Meeting Sofia’s family is a stark illumination on the deep inequality in this society, where the high class sees themselves as European while the working class is relegated to ignored corners, liable to get beaten for speaking out. In one of the film’s truly piercing moments, Tom sees Sofia being abducted by the secret police in the street but freezes, unable to even shout. It’s easy to be cynical until the real world crashes right into you. Even if it’s absolutely frightening, Tom must summon the courage to finally try something, even if it means approaching a secret police thug having coffee out in the open. In these moments Coogan truly shines even more than with the dry British humor. “Steve was very involved with the script,” Catteneo said. “We had many script meetings where he improvised and Jeff would write some of it down. It was great having Steve involved. He’s second to none with comic instincts. Even with the more dramatic scenes, he just found it very naturally.”

The true star is Juan Salvador the penguin, which becomes more than just a cute animal to add cheer to the material. Tom hides him in his apartment provided by the campus, but eventually brings him to class. For the students, caring and having Juan Salvador present is a lesson in kindness and community. They all come together in excitement for the class mascot. “The Penguin Lessons” in a sense channels why so many of us do become attached to our cats and dogs in a special bond. It’s a rare turn for Cattaneo, who rarely focuses on animals but makes great films about people like his famous “The Full Monty.” Jeff Pope’s work as well is a gallery of wonderful human journeys such as “Philomena” and “Stan & Ollie.” As Cattaneo himself described it, “Jeff and I approached the penguin as an ice breaker. He helps Tom open up to his class and it helps them bond with him. I’ve learned that about human nature. It can just take that one thing that changes the equilibrium in the room. I want a penguin now on every set (laughs).” 

“The Penguin Lessons” hits the right emotional note with its ending, which includes footage of the real Juan Salvador during the closing credits scroll. The acting and writing by then have given the penguin genuine resonance through how he’s seen by the human characters. The term lifeline may be overused, yet it makes perfect sense here. By learning to care again, Tom finds a fresh lifeline through Juan Salvador. We live in a darkening time where it’s easy to become cynics and closed off from a world displaying its cruelties so openly. Yet, we can’t stop caring for the world and for ourselves, or nothing will ever heal. You don’t expect to ponder such things when walking into a movie about a language teacher and his penguin, but here we are and it’s a charming delight.

“The Penguin Lessons” releases March 28 in theaters nationwide.