Bebés

Greetings again from the darkness. About 4 months ago I saw this trailer and knew immediately I wanted to see it. The word "documentary" is usually box office death, with only a few exceptions. Those exceptions usually involve penguins and Morgan Freeman. Sorry, no penguins here. Only babies. And goats. And cats.

Director Thomas Balmes from France had a pretty good idea - show the first year of life for four babies from different parts of the world. The babies are from Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo and San Francisco. It seems his ideas pretty much stopped there. What we see are interlocking scenes of each of the babies at similar stages of developments. The stark contrast in environment seems to be the driving force of photography.

Developed countries vs. un-developed countries. Is it best to raise your child in the wilderness or in the big city? Does it even matter? We see babies rolling on dirt hut floors and poking at goat's ears. We see other babies going through baby yoga and group therapy sessions. Apparently the big surprise is that all four babies learn to crawl, walk and talk no matter the level of luxury or amount of parental attention.

Roger Ebert says all babies are cute. Any fan of "Seinfeld" will tell you that's just not true. What is true is that babies are curious and observant and creative. No one knows if the over-indulgent and over-protectiveness of high society actually helps or stifles the development of babies. What we do know is that life finds a way and babies keep growing and learning, whether in a hot tub with mom or in a bowl that a wild goat uses as drinking water.

I just wish the director had put more substance into the delivery. We are simply observers in quick snapshots of each baby. We get very little from the parents or other kids. The obvious points are made, but in the end, this feels a bit empty and probably better served on the National Geographic channel than the local cinema.

Having recently celebrated the birth of Liliana, our first grandchild, I admit I am a little biased toward babies in general and the documentary Babies by Thomas Balmes in particular. The film, however, stands on its own as a joyous celebration of the first year of life for four youngsters in different parts of the world. Filmed without narration, subtitles, or any comprehensible dialogue, Babies is a direct encounter with four babies who stumble their predictable ways to participating in the awesome beauty of life.

Enhanced by the inspiring music by Bruno Coulais, we follow Mari, a little girl in Tokyo Japan; Ponijao, another girl living in Namibia in Africa with their mother and eight brothers and sisters; Bayer (Bayarjargal) a boy who lives in Mongolia; and Hattie, definitely the most privileged of the four who lives with her apparently super aware parents in San Francisco. Watching their development over the first twelve months of life is a direct experience of the enchantment that life has to offer. The babies laugh, they cry, they play, they get frustrated, they poop, and they bask in the loving tenderness of those around them.

Needless to say, their experience of the first year of life is vastly different, yet what stands out is not how much is different but how much is universal as each in their own way attempts to conquer their physical environment. Mari becomes frustrated as she sets about getting the hang of teaching toys by attempting to place a spindle into the hole of a disc. Bayer unravels a role of toilet paper and then takes bites out of it when it is all undone. Hattie crawls towards the door during a parental ecology meeting in San Francisco as if to say, "Get me out of here, I've had enough of this".

Though the language is different as well as the environment, the babies cry the same, laugh the same, and try to learn the frustrating, yet satisfying art of crawling, then walking in the same way. Of course, those in Tokyo and San Francisco have definite physical advantages over their young counterparts in Mongolia and Namibia. Hattie has the advantage of cultured and literate parents who read to her and show her books with the title "No Hitting." Bayer and Ponijao live close to earth, naturally sitting with goats or playing among cows, having their tongue licked by a dog, and even drinking water out of a dirty stream, yet we are confident that life for Bayer and Ponijao, though culturally different than for Hattie and Mari, will survive and prosper by the loving ways of their own parents and the environment in which they live. You will either find Babies entrancing or slow moving depending on your attitude towards babies because frankly that's all there is, yet for all it will be an immediate experience far removed from the world of cell phones and texting, exploring up close and personal the mystery of life as the individual personality of each child begins to emerge. For me, it was difficult to resist.

I just got back from a screening of this documentary that examines (sans narrative, thankfully) the first year of four babies, one from mongolia, one from tokyo, one from namibia, and one from san francisco, more accurately representing the world population than if it were four western babies.

though the film as it stands is worth watching and is an entertaining piece of cinema, it never quite reaches the moment it seems to want to build towards: the humanity of all people. it settles instead for being a cute, fluff piece for the audience to coo over with numerous "oohs" and "awwws."

don't get me wrong, though-the babies themselves are great, and watching their different personalities operating in different cultures is the driving force of the film. it's a very watchable film, just not as poignant as it could (or maybe should) have been.

An enjoyable, charming, heartwarming documentary about babies around the globe and the difference, similarity on their life as a baby. This was a nicely photographed film and a pretty memorable one at that but it kind of bothered me that there wasn't much dialogue or narration and when there was in different countries there wasn't any subtitles which was a bummer because I was really interested on what other cultures talk about on an normal everyday basis and their input on parenting and because of that it made the pacing sometimes sluggish with a series of clips that you could probably find on youtube or home videos but that still doesn't make it lose its charm. Overall there isn't much else I can say about Babies, it wasn't a brilliant documentary but a very adorable one that will lift your spirits high and I recommend it for mothers or parents to be but that's pretty much it. Worthy of a rental. More of a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

I just got back from seeing Babies (Bebes) at my local movie theater. It examines the first year of four babies' lives in four diverse nations. There was no narration, which was a blessing, and nothing was translated. Thus, it was a true look at these babies' lives without any apparent biases, mistranslations, etc. I felt like I was back in my sociocultural ethnography class in college learning to view without judging and learn from each group. I would have liked more cohesion or purpose and the film may have been better if it had had a culminating milestone for each child at the end, but what was there was very good.

If you can appreciate other cultures for what they are and go in without judgment, this is a documentary for you. It also has extreme elements of cuteness, so if you want the "aww" factor, this may be a good movie for you. Unfortunately quite a few viewers in my audience were close minded and had a hard time viewing the film without making comments about what they viewed as poor parenting, so that is something to watch for if you go to see it in the theater.