If having kids was as troublesome for human beings as it is for emperor penguins, population growth as we know it would cease overnight.

That much is made abundantly clear by Luc Jacquet's beguiling documentary “March of the Penguins,” a harrowing, funny and, yes, inspiring look at the heroic mating habits of that most peculiar of creatures: The polar-dwelling flightless waterfowl.

Skillfully narrated by Morgan Freeman, the film characterizes penguins as uncommonly stubborn tenants who refused to vacate Antarctica even as the continent drifted southward. Thousands of generations later, the birds have migrated to the outer reaches of the Darwinian oddness index.

From a distance, with their slouched posture and waddling gait, the penguins look humorously like creaky-jointed old gentlemen out for a stroll.

Every autumn, mature emperors leave the water and embark on a rigorous 70-mile hajj over a pitiless ice desert to their birthplace and breeding ground.

Visually speaking, it's a stunningly ordered affair: Single-file, steady and precisely navigated. Upon arrival, the birds pair up, beginning a touching monogamous arrangement that will yield one egg, and one life.

Thus begins a vigil of unimaginable extremes: A months-long crucible of unearthly cold, endless nights, starvation, separation, reunification and, finally, birth.

Along the way, Jacquet and his crew capture images of exceptional emotional resonance. Entrusted with their mates’ eggs, hundreds of male penguins huddle together to ward off the subzero cold, some to no avail. Bereft and childless, a female bird tries to steal another mother's chick and is immediately thwarted by her neighbors. Later, scores of adolescent penguins tumble into the water, completing the circle of life.

In its best moments, “March of the Penguins” offers just as much tragedy, triumph and life-or-death suspense as any Hollywood melodrama. Moreover, we find the best part of ourselves reflected in these strange, noble animals, because if freezing your tail off to protect an egg isn't love, I don't know what is.

March of the Penguins
Starring: Morgan Freeman (narrator)
Rating: Not rated (all audiences)
Running time: 80 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday at Harkins Camelview in Scottsdale
Grade:A