Excerpt from the documentary:
Reinterpreted Script:
These penguins are all heading to the open water to the right,
In a vast and endless plain of snow a colony of penguins populate the land. They all move towards the open water to the right. To the fish.
but one of them caught our eye, the one in the center.
But one penguin catches our eye. A single speck amongst the mass. This penguin looks just like the rest, but it stays rooted. Stuck in its place.
He would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice nor return to the colony.
It would not go toward the feeding grounds to swim and fish nor would it return to the colony. It simply watches the hustling penguins from afar.
Shortly afterwards, we saw him heading straight towards the mountains, some 70 kilometers away.
Then, it sets its sights on the mountains to the left sitting along the horizon line…unknown, undisturbed, and far, far away. The penguin begins to walk. Straight toward the distant mountains.
Dr. Ainley explained that even if he caught him and brought him back to the colony, he would immediately head right back for the mountains.
Even if it were plucked up and placed back to where it was with the rest of the colony, it would not stay, but continue on its unfathomable trek.
One of these disoriented or deranged penguins showed up at the New Harbor diving camp, already some 80 kilometers away from where it should be.
It’s walking further and further away from where it’s expected to be. Some might call the penguin disoriented or deranged. But perhaps there’s something in the mountains that only this single penguin understands.
The rules for the humans are: do not disturb or hold up the penguin, stand still, and let him go on his way.
To anyone observing, we cannot stop it. We can only watch and let it go on its way. The penguin is on a journey that only it understands. Its path may be long, and it may be arduous heading toward an unknown place. But for the penguin, the view is getting clearer and clearer.
And here he’s heading off into the interior of the vast continent. With 5,000 kilometers ahead of him, he’s heading towards certain death.
Some would say it’s heading toward certain death. But as it finally reaches the mountains, the air gets lighter. Maybe the mountains aren’t the dark end that some would say it is. Maybe, it’s a place that’s just right for this penguin. A peaceful place where the flowers bloom in the vast and endless plain of snow. Maybe that’s why.
Breakdown of the Plot
In essence, the story follows a penguin who feels alienated from the rest of its colony. While they all go about their regular routine of catching fish, as is expected of them, the penguin is disconnected from the experience. Instead, it has a strong, quiet yearning to leave everything familiar behind and go towards the unfamiliar mountains in search of self-fulfillment. Even though its journey is difficult, it perseveres and finds peace and happiness awaiting at the end of its journey.
This story is a representation of internal conflict: the push and pull of taking the courage to listen to one's own wishes in order to achieve inner peace, despite the obstacles one may face.
