A remarkable friendship

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Friday, August 16th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: a family movie for animal lovers.

Movies about the bond between humans and animals tend to tug at the heartstrings a little more than other types do. Just about everyone has a favorite, of course, and typically it’s a dog movie. But how many films can you name about the special relationship between humans and birds?

EICHER: Well, I wouldn’t count the Hitchcock “Birds” movie, rather an unhappy relationship. But seriously, this weekend a new film debuts in theaters about the special bond between a fisherman and a penguin. Here’s WORLD’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino.

COLLIN GARBARINO: My Penguin Friend is a cute family movie inspired by the true story of a very special penguin that visited the same old man at the same time of year on the same beach for eight straight years.

French actor Jean Reno plays a Brazilian fisherman named João who finds a penguin that got caught in an oil spill. The old man cleans the penguin’s feathers and nurses him back to health by feeding him sardines.

JOÃO: Don’t move. No. Don’t move. Don’t do that. My goodness.

João launches into taking care of this poor penguin but doesn’t think to warn his wife Maria that she’ll be sharing her house with a wild animal.

MARIA: Why is a penguin in our home?

JOÃO: It needs our help.

MARIA: What?

Mexican actress Adriana Barraza plays Maria. She’s pretty surprised to have a convalescing penguin in her humble home and at first she’s not too happy about it.

JOÃO: He was covered in oil and barely alive.

MARIA: Huh. That’s why the oil’s all over my kitchen.

JOÃO: Yes.

But Maria soon realizes that her husband needs to save this bird. She even joins in on some of the fun.

Eventually the penguin makes a full recovery. João attempts to reintroduce him into the wild, but the penguin returns to his house the very next day. João’s penguin friend becomes a celebrity around the village, and the bird gets the name DinDim.

Then one day he’s gone.

Like many other birds, this particular species of penguin migrates, and Dindim undertakes a yearly 5,000-mile journey from Brazil to the penguin breeding grounds in Argentina. There, DinDim stumbles into a subplot, meeting a trio of researchers who notice his unique behavior. But then after a few months, it’s time to make the 5,000-mile return trip to visit his old friend João.

LUCIA: DinDim’s Back!

This is a beautiful movie, filmed on location in Brazil and Argentina. It’s hard to mess up tropical beaches with clear blue water, but even João and Maria’s modest home and the neighbors’ ramshackle fishing boats possess a worn beauty. That beauty is also reflected in the people. The filmmakers used local villagers and fishermen to fill out the cast.

Jean Reno is probably best known in America for portraying hard-eyed assassins in movies like Léon: The Professional and Mission: Impossible, but the 76-year-old actor also starred in numerous romances and comedies. In this film, Reno gives a quiet performance playing an old man carrying an emotional burden. He offers viewers an affecting portrayal of love mingled with sorrow. And we get the sense that as João heals DinDim’s body, this act of kindness helps heal João’s hurting soul.

TOURIST: Is he your pet?

JOÃO: Not my pet. He is my friend.

MARIA: He chooses to be with João.

JOÃO: With us. He chooses to be with us.

Both Reno and Barraza give great performances. But it doesn’t really matter how good they are. It’s the penguin who steals the show.

The filmmakers rely on practical effects and a half dozen trained penguins to create the movie’s main character.

Much of the story progresses from DinDim’s charming perspective. He’s an amusing protagonist, waddling into mini-adventures around the house, through the village, and down to Argentina. In fact, DinDim’s adorable waddling and childlike curiosity reminded me of the lovable extraterrestrial E.T. DinDim might not be as cuddly as the fluffy dogs that star in canine adventures, but since he walks upright, he gives off a personality that feels more intelligent and human-like.

JOÃO: DinDim comes and goes as he pleases.

PAULO: As he pleases.

The film boasts that it’s “inspired by a true story.” And if you stick around for the credits, you’ll see photos of the real-life João and DinDim. But you should be aware that most of the movie’s plot is fictitious. The real-life João did clean up DinDim after finding him in oil, but it’s unlikely the real DinDim traveled 5,000 miles to Argentina every year. In actuality, he was visiting João while the other penguins were nesting in Argentina. No one knows where he went during his five-month absences. Maybe he was foraging in the open ocean with other penguins before heading back to his personal nesting ground in João’s backyard.

Despite the alterations intended to make DinDim’s story more dramatic, this film about a man and his bird friend is a satisfying agenda-free movie that the whole family can enjoy.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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