Film Review – Babies

September 28th, 2010 | POSTED BY Edward Davidson

The documentary Babies comes out on DVD and Blu-Ray September 28th. I saw this film in the theater with a bunch of ooooo-ing and aaaah-ing women. Just being in the presence of this movie started me lactating. I think I may actually physically have extra X chromosomes now.

This is a mostly wordless documentary that follows the lives of 4 newborn children in Mongolia, Namibia, Tokyo, and San Francisco through the first year of their life. These children are so unabashedly cute, and do such unabashedly cute things, that you may find yourself suffering a diabetic coma due to all the sweetness on screen.

Okay, not that I have gotten all of the cynicism out of the way, let me state plainly that Babies is a fun, interesting film.  This uncomplicated device of showing our planet through the eyes of a newborn is fairly brilliant.  We view a window on different societies, the way they actually live, and what natural beauty surrounds them.  Namibia and Mongolia in particular come off as fairly picturesque even if living conditions for the mothers there seem a little harsh compared to western standards.

But that is another point the film makes.  The San Francisco baby is definitely the most monetarily well off.  It has the most toys and modern conveniences.  Yet that doesn’t give it a leg up in the imagination, personality, or love departments.  The universal truth shown here is that Mommies all over the world love their babies.  Trite, maybe.  But also simple and affecting.  Recommended.

Rating: B

Babies, Documentary, DVD, Movie Review