Your
guide in English to films showing in Germany.
Opening 24 Apr 2025
Directed by:
Peter Cattaneo
Writing credits:
Jeff Pope, Tom Michell
Principal actors:
Steve Coogan, Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Aimar Miranda
English director Peter Cattaneo’s dramady is lighthearted entertainment that starts off with a bang. Set in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1976, the new English teacher, Tom Michell (Steve Coogan), arrives at the posh boys’ school, St. George. Incredibly on the eve of the military coup against Isabel Perón. Headmaster “everyone calls me Timbuk” (Jonathan Pryce) swiftly, efficiently and grumpily dispenses with Tom’s credentials, teaching curriculum, and apartment accommodations, including Timbuk’s three-word mandate for decorum. In short order Tom meets the school’s housekeeper Maria (Vivian El Jaber) in his kitchen, and fellow physics teacher Tapio (Björn Gustafsson) whose naivete misses Tom’s ironical dry humor. He talks incessantly, oftentimes musingly, meditatively, and rather presumptuously.
Tom’s undeniably rowdy class regularly throw paper airplanes and tie-up another with their ties, particularly Ramiro (Hugo Fuertes), Ernesto (Aimar Miranda), and Diego (David Herrero). Unfazed, he is apathetically inclined. During a jaunt to Uruguay, a beach stroll results in Tom rescuing a small oil-slicked Magellanic penguin. That irreversibly adopts Tom. Returning to his apartment, Maria’s unexpected arrival with granddaughter Sofia’s (Alfonsina Carracio) necessitates taking them into his confidence. They contribute toward naming the pinguin Juan Salvadore, i.e., Spanish for the best-seller Jonathan Livingston (Seagull) disregarding the “no pets” rule. Before too long the school, the conflict, Juan Salvadore and Tom’s friends, the headmaster and Tom’s rough night in jail conspire to expose his unabridged cowardness. Plus, reawakening him to life’s surroundings.
Cattaneo’s film and Jeff Pope’s screenplay, inspired by Tom Michell’s 2015 book, treat Argentina’s 1976 coup as a convenient prop even though the opening sequence is archival footage of that coup. Coogan’s performance peaks during comedic interchanges, particularly with Tapio and Maria, and otherwise is so laid back, particularly in relation to his teaching style it begs one’s believability. The bird is cute, and Robin Peters’ editing assures its ubiquitous presence, overshadowing the human intermingling and the tense political situation. Xavi Giménez’s camera appraisingly enjoys the Spanish filming locations, while Federico Jusid’s score heavy-handily favors Spanish music. Perfunctory epilogue intertitles plus home movies of Juan Salvadore accompany end credits. (Marinell Haegelin)
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