Review by Liz S

Starring Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce, Vivian El Jaber; Directed by Peter Cattaneo

Those of us who went to see "Penguin Lessons" really enjoyed it. The penguin was the undoubted star of the film which featured Steve Coogan as "Tom", a disillusioned middle aged teacher in a boarding school in Argentina, at the time of the 1976 coup. The screenplay was loosely based on the true story of Tom rescuing a penguin covered with oil and having unsuccessfully tried to release it back into the wild, he returns to the school with "Juan Salvador". The penguin has a positive effect on everyone and we are treated to amusing scenes of lessons with the penguin and also where he arrives at various school locations to find people talking to Juan Salvador as therapy. The story also intertwines with a young woman employee of the school being "disappeared" under the dictatorship and Tom's eventual attempt to help her. We are reminded of the organisation "Mothers of the Disappeared". Also, some lovely footage of the original penguin!