Babies (review)Planet Earth’s Home Movie
It’s high time the tiniest people got a movie of their own. Because even movies about babies are never really about babies but about the grownups who want to have babies or don’t want to be saddled with babies, or about small children who don’t like having their places of privilege usurped by even smaller children, or about doctors who think they’re gods because they give women babies through modern science, and so on. But what do the babies think of this new life thing that is thrust upon them without so much as a by-your-leave? Here, in Babies, from French documentarian Thomas Balmes, we get the world from the perspective of babies, or as close as we’re likely to get in that preverbal period of human life. Balmes “auditioned” pregnant mothers around the globe, seeking four who would be willing to share the first year or so of the lives of their impending infants. The genders of the babies were not known at this point, but it’s sort of nicely unironic that Balmes ended up with three girls -- Ponijao, in rural Namibia; Mari, in bustling Tokyo; and Hattie, in San Francisco -- and only one boy: Bayarjargal, in nomadic Mongolia. Because there are slightly more girl babies born every year than boy babies. The mothers’ faces are almost absent, except when they occasionally bob into the babies’ views; dads rarely appear. Okay, that’s not quite a baby’s perspective, who always have a grownup face popping into their own to babble or coo or laugh or talk. But Balmes’ camera mostly stays on the babies’ faces as they open up to the world around them; we see arms holding them, hands helping them, and so on, but not much else. The voices they hear of the adults around them remain untranslated: babies don’t get any help understanding what they’re hearing, and neither do we. (There is, refreshingly, no narration to get in the way of what we can plainly see is occurring onscreen.) The babies simply soak in the ambiance, learning and growing, and so do we. Ah, and here’s the “terrible” secret of Babies: it’s not really about babies, either. It’s about the universalities of human life across cultures that unite us, and about the differences that make us, well, different, too. (It’s like a home movie for the human race.) Some babies in some places get gentle scolding about not hitting other people, while others interact almost violently with their siblings. Some babies in some places live in almost antiseptic environments, while others are happily allowed to eat dirt just to see what it tastes like. Some babies live in places where they’re handled like fragile eggs, while others ride home from the hospital on motorcycles -- helmetless! And they all manage to end their first years healthy and happy. What’s universal? Love. Tolerance (much of it exuding from pet cats and dogs who patiently allow the infants to pull their ears, yank their fur, and drag them around). Joy. Oh, but this is a joyful film, a wonderfully charming portrait of what may be the most basic thing about being human: discovering that you’re human in the first place. The babies themselves? Adorable. Simply delightful to spend 90 minutes with. Life-affirming: you may not want to run right out and acquire one yourself, but surely you’ll find a lovely reminder of what a treasure it is to see the world through new eyes. support
Disqus commentsblog comments powered by Disqus |
posted:
Wed May 05 10, 11:34AM categories: reviews > 2010 theatrical releases permalink 15 pre-Disqus comments Disqus comments infoMPAA: rated PG for cultural and maternal nudity throughout viewed at a private screening with an audience of critics official site IMDB trailer more reviews at: Movie Review Query Engine dvdAmazon U.S. Amazon Canada Amazon U.K. tip jarshare
read morearthouse documentary related· don’t even ask what “paternal nudity” might be... · Polanski speaks (but doesn't apologize); sexist iPad ads?; Mr. Rogers is evil, says Fox News; more: leftover links · my week at the movies: ‘Babies,’ ‘Survival of the Dead,’ ‘Princess Kaiulani,’ ‘The Losers,’ ‘The Back-up Plan,’ ‘Ondine’ · trailer break: ‘Babies’ bloggyprevious post: question of the day: What movie are you most looking forward to in May? next post: trailer break: ‘Sex and the City 2’ |
|
|
search
follow
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(in case of site outages or other emergencies, I'll update my status on Twitter and Facebook)
|
||
follow FlickFilosopher.com no matter where you are online
|
||
share and enjoy
shop to support
support FlickFilosopher.com when you click through here and buy almost anything at:
• Amazon U.S.
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon U.K.
• Amazon Germany
• Amazon France
• Amazon Spain
• Amazon Italy
• Chapters/Indigo (Canada)
• Amazon U.S.
• Amazon Canada
• Amazon U.K.
• Amazon Germany
• Amazon France
• Amazon Spain
• Amazon Italy
• Chapters/Indigo (Canada)
pre-Disqus comments
posted by Newbs (Wed May 05 10, 9:56PM)
I'm looking forward to this one, though I'll probably wait for NetFlix. The trailer I saw a few months ago put a chink in my "never wanna have kids" armor. I'm curious what effect the entire film will elicit.
posted by Newbs (Wed May 05 10, 9:57PM)
Almost forgot: maternal nudity? Allll right!
posted by Kenny (Thu May 06 10, 12:12AM)
Actually MaryAnn, there are roughly 105 boys for every 100 girls born across the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sex_ratio
posted by nnvee (Thu May 06 10, 2:08AM)
I saw the trailer. It was adorable.
posted by markyd (Thu May 06 10, 9:52AM)
but but but....it's about...babies! How could this possible get a green light? babies! smelly, noisy, time-sucking...babies!
I get that this is different than a typical hollywood depiction of babies in movies. I actually kinda like the idea behind it. Still...
I'll trust you on this MaryAnn, but I'll most likely never see it.
posted by Bluejay (Thu May 06 10, 10:59AM)
I'm looking forward to seeing this at some point.
I just read this fascinating article about infant morality. I wonder if there's any evidence of that in the movie, if the viewer is looking for it.
posted by MaryAnn (Thu May 06 10, 11:59AM)
But they're other people's babies! Other people's babies that you spend only 90 minutes with at their most cutest. You don't have to change their diapers.
posted by MaryAnn (Thu May 06 10, 12:01PM)
Oops! I guess the genders of the babies depicted is actually ironic then.
posted by MaryAnn (Thu May 06 10, 12:03PM)
The Mongolian baby has an older brother (around 3 years old) -- and yes, their interactions sometimes have a clear moral dimension.
posted by bronxbee (Thu May 06 10, 2:45PM)
more boy babies are born, but fewer of them survive their infancy, which is why the general population is about 51% female and 49% male...
posted by MaSch (Fri May 07 10, 7:59AM)
I just flipped a coin four times, and got 3 heads and one tails.
How do I decide if it's ironic, unironic or ironically unironic? (Please note that "irony" is a something Alanis Morissette introduced me to ...)
posted by Ben (Fri May 07 10, 8:34AM)
Definitely looking forward to seeing this one. It looks great from the trailer and your review is even more encouraging.
posted by amanohyo (Sun May 09 10, 7:53PM)
I thought the movie made a nice point about the relative value of water in the different cultures and it was cool to see actual personalities develop in the babies. That Mongolian kid in particular gets himself into all kinds of crazy situations.
It would have been cool to see some middle eastern, south american, and/or Indian babies as well, but I guess that'll have to wait for the sequel. So much of what is done for babies in the two wealthier nations is really all about satisfying the mothers. It was hilarious to see little Hattie desperately trying to exit the room where that horrible Mother Earth singalong was taking place.
Also, I cannot believe how good humored and friendly all the animals were. I knew some pretty mean goats when I was a kid, and none of the cats I know would stand for the kind of rough treatment that's doled out in the movie.
posted by JoshB (Sun May 09 10, 8:45PM)
I was in pain during that song, and then the kid made a break for it and I regained hope for humanity.
I loved the bit where the elder brother whips the younger with a peace of cloth for the benefit of the camera. He's all "See! I made him cry! Isn't it awesome?"
posted by bats :[ (Tue Jul 06 10, 6:02PM)
The poor Mongolian cat on a leash! (I'm sure it was fine, and I suspect it spends a lot of time in the wagon-wheel rafters of the ger.) It didn't mind some "heavy loving" from the baby, either.
And I know I'm a terrible person (like most of the other people in the audience who saw this when I did), but I laughed out loud with Hattie's "playground/roller coaster" incident.