In Russian theaters, 'My Penguin', a touching melodrama about the friendship between a fisherman and a penguin with outstanding cinematography. What else makes this work interesting – in our review.

Fisherman Joao (Jean Reno) lost his son many years ago, after which he withdrew into himself and closed off from those around him. Now he leads an almost hermit-like lifestyle, minimizing contact even with former friends and colleagues. But one day, Joao finds a penguin stuck in oil on the shore and decides to nurse the bird back to health and then return it to its natural habitat. However, the penguin, named Dindim by a local girl, becomes so attached to its new friend that it returns again and again.

'My Penguin' unexpectedly stands out from the mass of bland stories about human-animal friendship. And no, not because there is a live penguin on screen rather than a CGI model, which the creators particularly emphasize in interviews. By the way, that is only partly true, as the film does not shy away from computer graphics in scenes where the bird's life and health are in danger or are simply difficult to execute. There is also nothing groundbreaking in the fact that the film is based on real events, since every second similar story is also based on real occurrences.

'My Penguin' could have been a completely formulaic and therefore artistically uninteresting family spectacle, if not for the people who had a hand in its creation. Firstly, it is worth noting that the 'adult with trauma + animal' pairing works dramatically better than 'child + animal'. Such stories often have greater depth and drama. Therefore, for example, 'Dog' with Tatum or 'Arthur the King' with Wahlberg are far more interesting than the barely distinguishable films about a child and a dog.

Secondly, we are talking about a figure like Jean Reno, who has not been seen in leading roles very often in recent years. Interestingly, 'My Penguin' is the actor's 'freshest' film in years, according to the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, not counting Spike Lee's 'Da 5 Bloods', where he had a prominent but still supporting role. And Reno is incredibly good in the role of a disillusioned elderly fisherman. You believe his on-screen drama, no matter how clichéd and predictable the twists it takes.

Thirdly, the film balances on the edge of a family adventure and documentary in the spirit of animal shows on Discovery and Animal Planet. This is explained by the fact that the director is an experienced documentary filmmaker and traveler David Schurmann. However, it is worth noting that 'My Penguin' loses some of its charm when it separates the duo of Reno and the penguin. But this is compensated by the best thing in the film — the cinematography.

Oscar-winning Anthony Dod Mantle is a living legend of his craft on par with Emmanuel Lubezki ('Gravity') and Roger Deakins ('1917'). His filmography includes 'Dogville' and 'Antichrist' by von Trier, 'Rush' by Ron Howard, 'Snowden' by Oliver Stone, and a whole array of joint projects with Danny Boyle, among which I especially want to highlight 'T2 Trainspotting' and 'Slumdog Millionaire', for which he actually received the Academy Award. Anthony delights the viewer not only with the penguin's point of view but also with other unexpected cinematographic techniques, which saves the film from boredom during Dindim's adventures in Patagonia.

Summing up all of the above, 'My Penguin' is an excellent candidate for family viewing. Of course, it is full of genre clichés, and the main emphasis is on touching episodes with the bird, but primarily because of Reno on screen and Mantle behind the camera, the film stands out from its counterparts about human-animal friendship.

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