PENGUIN BLOOM
***
Director: Glendyn Ivin
Screenplay: Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, based on the book by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive.
Principal cast:
Naomi Watts
Andrew Lincoln
Rachel House
Griffin Murray-Johnston
Jacki Weaver
Leeanna Walsman
Country: Australia/USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 95 mins.
Australian release date: 21 January 2021.
Glendyn Ivin works mainly in the worlds of television and advertising; Penguin Bloom is the first feature he’s made for the big screen since 2009’s Last Ride with Hugo Weaving. You can see what attracted him to this story about Sam Bloom, an active, vibrant Sydney woman who spent much of her time outdoors and in the surf until a terrible accident while on holiday brought a sudden end to that part of her life. Her great strength was to find the courage to carry on, a strength that was aided in no small measure by a wounded baby magpie. Her story is well-known to many because her husband, a professional photographer, documented her recovery in a book with best-selling Australian author Bradley Trevor Greive.
It was 2013 when the Blooms, Sam, her husband Cameron (The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln) and their three boys Noah, Reuben and Oli, went on a family trip to Thailand. Staying on Phuket, Sam (Naomi Watts) was on the roof terrace of the hotel, leaning against a railing, when it suddenly gave way and she fell to the ground below, shattering two of her vertebrae. After spending seven months in hospital, she returned to her home in Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches in a wheelchair, the lower two-thirds of her body paralysed. Depressed and withdrawn, she retreated into herself - her eldest son Noah (played exceedingly well by young Griffin Murray-Johnston), who part-narrates the film, says “It’s like mum was stolen from us” - grieving for the loss of the vigorous life she had led before the accident. When Noah finds a wounded magpie chick and brings it home, at first Sam is none-too-pleased, but as the baby bird forces its unwelcome attention on her, she becomes increasingly involved in its recuperation. Before long, she and ‘Penguin’, as Noah has named the little magpie, have become the best of mates, their mutual healing unconsciously bound up with one another’s.
There’s no denying that Penguin Bloom is a thoroughly well-made film featuring some stellar performances and excellent production values but it fails to hit the heights of, say, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly or even the more recent Breathe. Films about overcoming life-changing infirmities need to leave you feeling uplifted once you’ve lived through the before and after of the terrible events depicted, and this is where the screenplay fails to shine. Ultimately, this is a tale of tremendous struggle and subsequent success (the real-life Sam has gone on to achieve great things in the world of sport) but we don’t really get that from this movie. You should leave the cinema skipping, feeling elated by Sam’s incredible achievement rather than merely smiling inwardly.
Which is not to say there aren’t some wonderful moments in Penguin Bloom; Watts, for example, is magnificent. Because Sam is so withdrawn for much of the film, her emotions need to be clearly etched on her face and Watts never leaves you in any doubt about the pain and sorrow that her character is experiencing. Lincoln’s role is smaller, although no less crucial, and his largely subtle performance adds much depth to the goings-on in the Bloom household. The boys are all good but Griffin Murray-Johnston is a standout. He brings real hurt and heartache to the role of Noah, who feels responsible in some way for his mum’s accident. The best acting of all, though, is by the magpies. They are a joy to behold and a credit to their trainer, Paul Manter, who used eight birds of varying ages for ‘Penguin’. They are real little show-offs and required little augmentation through CGI and animatronics. Penguin Bloom is their film.
Screenplay: Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, based on the book by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive.
Principal cast:
Naomi Watts
Andrew Lincoln
Rachel House
Griffin Murray-Johnston
Jacki Weaver
Leeanna Walsman
Country: Australia/USA
Classification: PG
Runtime: 95 mins.
Australian release date: 21 January 2021.
Glendyn Ivin works mainly in the worlds of television and advertising; Penguin Bloom is the first feature he’s made for the big screen since 2009’s Last Ride with Hugo Weaving. You can see what attracted him to this story about Sam Bloom, an active, vibrant Sydney woman who spent much of her time outdoors and in the surf until a terrible accident while on holiday brought a sudden end to that part of her life. Her great strength was to find the courage to carry on, a strength that was aided in no small measure by a wounded baby magpie. Her story is well-known to many because her husband, a professional photographer, documented her recovery in a book with best-selling Australian author Bradley Trevor Greive.
It was 2013 when the Blooms, Sam, her husband Cameron (The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln) and their three boys Noah, Reuben and Oli, went on a family trip to Thailand. Staying on Phuket, Sam (Naomi Watts) was on the roof terrace of the hotel, leaning against a railing, when it suddenly gave way and she fell to the ground below, shattering two of her vertebrae. After spending seven months in hospital, she returned to her home in Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches in a wheelchair, the lower two-thirds of her body paralysed. Depressed and withdrawn, she retreated into herself - her eldest son Noah (played exceedingly well by young Griffin Murray-Johnston), who part-narrates the film, says “It’s like mum was stolen from us” - grieving for the loss of the vigorous life she had led before the accident. When Noah finds a wounded magpie chick and brings it home, at first Sam is none-too-pleased, but as the baby bird forces its unwelcome attention on her, she becomes increasingly involved in its recuperation. Before long, she and ‘Penguin’, as Noah has named the little magpie, have become the best of mates, their mutual healing unconsciously bound up with one another’s.
There’s no denying that Penguin Bloom is a thoroughly well-made film featuring some stellar performances and excellent production values but it fails to hit the heights of, say, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly or even the more recent Breathe. Films about overcoming life-changing infirmities need to leave you feeling uplifted once you’ve lived through the before and after of the terrible events depicted, and this is where the screenplay fails to shine. Ultimately, this is a tale of tremendous struggle and subsequent success (the real-life Sam has gone on to achieve great things in the world of sport) but we don’t really get that from this movie. You should leave the cinema skipping, feeling elated by Sam’s incredible achievement rather than merely smiling inwardly.
Which is not to say there aren’t some wonderful moments in Penguin Bloom; Watts, for example, is magnificent. Because Sam is so withdrawn for much of the film, her emotions need to be clearly etched on her face and Watts never leaves you in any doubt about the pain and sorrow that her character is experiencing. Lincoln’s role is smaller, although no less crucial, and his largely subtle performance adds much depth to the goings-on in the Bloom household. The boys are all good but Griffin Murray-Johnston is a standout. He brings real hurt and heartache to the role of Noah, who feels responsible in some way for his mum’s accident. The best acting of all, though, is by the magpies. They are a joy to behold and a credit to their trainer, Paul Manter, who used eight birds of varying ages for ‘Penguin’. They are real little show-offs and required little augmentation through CGI and animatronics. Penguin Bloom is their film.