Based on a true story, and on the bestselling novel of the same name, this enchanting, embracing drama follows a family who have suffered a devastating tragedy, but a small, injured magpie may just be the thing they need to help their recovery.
Naomi Watts leads the cast of Penguin Bloom as Sam, mother of three boys and high school sweetheart of now husband, Cameron. One summer, the Australian family take a trip to Thailand where Sam suffers an horrific accident, falling from a rooftop leaving her paralysed from the back down. The accident and trauma that follows devastates her both physically and mentally, while also putting added pressure on the rest of the family, particularly her loving husband as they struggle to adjust to a new way of life. However, one day at the beach, Cameron and the boys come across an injured magpie, and, after naming it Penguin due to its black and white plumage, they take it home to see if they can help. When Sam is left alone as Cameron heads off to work, and the boys to school, she has no choice but to tend to Penguin who is constantly calling for company. A bond slowly forms as the two realise that they might need one another on the road to their recovery.
The thing that strikes you from the off, and indeed all of the way through Penguin Bloom, is the stunning design, and cinematography by Sam Chiplin. Every frame is either back-lit or basking in the blazing sun of New South Wales, the screen glistening with a constant yellow/orange hue. It’s beautiful. The acting too, particularly from Naomi Watts’ lead as Sam, and then Andrew Lincoln – welcomed back to the big-screen post-The Walking Dead, as the home support and devoted husband in Cameron, just about clinging on and holding the family together as they deal with the huge change in their everyday lives that Sam’s devastating injury has put upon them. Then there’s the ever reliable Jacki Weaver in full support as mother, Jan, whose opinions on her daughter’s mental state and physical health isn’t always welcomed. All of them, however, are upstaged by the ten or so birds that bring the character of Penguin to the screen, the magpie wrangling top notch with the filmmakers opting for real-life feathered players rather than CGI, save for a couple select sequences.
The film wastes no time in setting the scene, Shaun Grant and Garry Cripps’ script, adapted from the best-selling novel jumping back and forth pre and post accident to layer the narrative. It’s slow-paced but never plods and while the feature is a little paint by numbers in places, it slowly sucks you in as the story plays out, director Glendyn Ivin managing to hit all the right notes to ensure that even the most hardened viewer is willing that nothing bad will happen to the bird as we glide happily towards its heart-warming climax.
A tragic, though beautiful story, wonderfully and lovingly told from all involved.
Penguin Bloom
Summary
It’s hard not to fall for this big screen adaptation of the bestselling novel, Glendyn Ivin’s film managing to hit all the right notes and pull at the heart strings in all of the right places.
