The Penguin Lessons director on what it’s like to film a penguin

The Penguin Lessons is a heart-warming memoir by Tom Michell which tells the true story of an unlikely friendship between Tom and an unexpected friend: a penguin.

When Tom, a schoolteacher in Buenos Aries, saves a penguin from an oil slick, the pair form a special bond that impacts not only Tom, but the entire school.

Ten years after its initial publication, the book has been adapted into a film of the same name. To learn more about the movie – and what it takes to direct real-life penguins on-set – we caught up with director, Peter Cattaneo.

What drew you to direct the film adaptation of Tom Michell's novel, The Penguin Lessons?

The Penguin Lessons is a remarkable true story with an unexpected combination of elements: The setting of an exclusive British-styled boarding school in 1970s Buenos Aires; the endearing bond between a man and a small Magellanic penguin all felt like such an exciting starting point for a cinematic and original movie.

How did you approach the challenge of depicting Argentina’s political climate in the 1970s while keeping the warm and comedic elements of the film?

Alongside the technicalities of filming with live penguins, this tonal tightrope was the main directorial challenge on The Penguin Lessons.

Tom Michell’s book concentrates very much on events inside St George’s College, but together with screenwriter Jeff Pope and lead actor Steve Coogan, we felt that we couldn’t make a film set in Argentina in 1976 that denies the effects of ‘The Dirty War’.

My first step was research: Background reading and spending time in Buenos Aires at the museums and memorials dedicated to ‘The Disappeared’, meeting with historians and people whose families had been directly impacted by the brutality of the military dictatorship.

Our story is told through Tom Michell’s eyes, and his character is initially disinterested in life on the streets beyond the school’s walls. However, as the story unfolds, he finds he cannot continue to ignore the escalating brutality in Buenos Aires. This awakening in Tom is a key component of the dramatic spine of the movie.

There is an innocent fable-like tone to The Penguin Lessons film. With this in mind, the violence remains implied and in the shadows rather than being graphically realised on screen.

Directing humans is one thing, but working with a penguin must have presented unique challenges. How did you manage the technical and emotional challenges of directing scenes involving Juan Salvador, the penguin?

The first question from the producers was ‘will it be CG (computer graphics) or will it be a real penguin?’ For me there was only ever one answer.  It had to be a real penguin. That way we’d get the authenticity, spontaneity and honesty that this film requires.

In any movie, the director is dependent on an excellent team to achieve their goals. With The Penguin Lessons, the first crew members to be hired were experienced and expert animal handlers. Consultation started early, going through the script scene by scene. My approach was to observe the penguins, talk things through with the animal handlers and reverse-engineer the scenes to fit what the penguins could actually do rather than ask them to do things outside their normal behaviour.

The welfare of the penguins is of course the top priority. The American Humane Society are required on any legitimate film production featuring live animals and they were onset at all times to ensure the well-being of the penguins.

Casting-wise, the animal handlers suggested their most relaxed, mature and human-friendly penguin, Ricard.  In some scenes Ricard would be doubled by his partner, Baba. Penguins look pretty much identical across both genders, which is a great help to filmmakers. There were two or three other penguins who could be subbed in if Ricard or Baba we’re becoming bored or tired.

On set with penguins, there is a strict protocol of a calm and quiet. No shouting from the crew, no clanking of heavy equipment. This made for perhaps the most serene and focussed filming environment I have ever worked on.

When trying to achieve a specific penguin action, the keyword was ‘patience’. We would always have a camera trained exclusively on the penguin. The cast, led by Steve, would just keep running the scenes until we had a usable take. Once we were into closer shots, we would match the continuity to the selected master take and build a lot of the connection between people and penguin in the edit.

Steve Coogan must've been amazing to work with, was it difficult managing the dynamic between Steve and the penguin?

Steve was incredibly patient with the penguins – talking to them, stroking them, and the rest of the cast followed his example. On the first day of rehearsals, all the cast were sent for ‘penguin familiarisation’ which is something I’d never seen on a call sheet before! This was as much for the penguins as it was for the actors. Penguins are quite sensitive and need time to get used to people.

Steve’s background in live comedy makes him very quick to react to the unexpected on set. This means that he would stay in character and improvise, even if the penguin did something unscripted. I think this gives the film spontaneous energy that is really engaging.

In one particular scene, the script required the penguin to react to a question from Tom Michell. Steve would just keep repeating the line ‘Juan Salvador?’ . . . Take one – Ricard looks the other way. Another take, ‘Juan Salvador?’ – Ricard starts cleaning his feathers. Another and Ricard does a poop. Finally, on about take 27: ‘Juan Salvador?’ Ricard nods his head with perfect timing. Steve just continued, inscrutable, to the end of the scene, until I called ‘cut’. The cast and crew were buzzing after that . . . and it’s in the trailer.

When you read, do you imagine the book playing out as a film in your mind?

That depends very much on the book. Some texts are dominated by an inner voice, describing the thoughts and feelings of the narrator. Others are much more visual in their storytelling. Here, yes, I do imagine visual sequences very much like movie scenes, right down to lens choices, camera moves, lighting, even music score.

Other than The Penguin Lessons, what is your favourite Penguin book?

A Clockwork Orange. As a boy, my reading was limited to text books –  science, natural world, cars . . . As a teenager, A Clockwork Orange was the first novel I discovered for myself and is the book that got me into proper reading.

The invented language, soundtrack references and evocative imagery was so captivating, and a little disturbing, to a fifteen-year-old suburban boy.  I painted a huge mural version of David Pelham’s iconic ‘cog-eyed droog’ cover design on my bedroom wall. The fact that Kubrick’s film adaptation was withdrawn from UK distribution soon after its release only added to the mystique. I finally managed to see the movie a few years later when visiting Amsterdam.