Genre: Documentary
Director: Thomas Balmes
RunTime: 1 hr 19 mins
Released By: Shaw
Rating: NC-16 (Some Nudity)
Official Website: http://www.focusfeatures.com/focusfeatures/film/babies/

Opening Day: 9 September 2010

Synopsis:

Four countries and four babies, from birth to their very first steps.Their names are Ponijao, Bayarjargal, Mari and Hattie, and they live in Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and the United States.

BABIES invites us simultaneously into four very different cultures, capturing the
funniest, most carefree and moving moments, those unique and universal incidents of the first few months in our lives.An hour and a half of adventure, action, humor and tumbles…

Movie Review:

“All babies are beautiful”- Jeanne Calment

Let’s face it- about the most universally adored creatures in this world are infants. There are those who will quickly disagree, but this reviewer suspects that they are clearly among the minority. For most, it doesn’t take much to elicit a collective chorus of “oohs” and “aahs”- babies just need to (well) be babies. It is in this vein that French documentarian Thomas Balmès has approached his subject matter.

Filmed over the course of over two years, “Babies” is quite the impossible film to dislike- after all, what’s there not to like about watching not one, not two, not three, but four absolutely adorable infants, discovering the world step as step? Each of these infants hails from a distinctly different culture- there’s Ponijao of Namibia, Bayarjagal (nicknamed Bayar) of Mongolia, Mari of Tokyo and Hattie of San Francisco- though one may quickly recognise the more primitive upbringing of the first two versus the urban modernity of the latter.

Ponijiao spends most of her time close to her mother and the other women of the Himba tribe, her toys consisting of sticks and stones and her actions mimicking the grinding and pounding actions of her elders. Bayar on the other hand is seen tethered by a cloth to his family’s yurt in the windswept plains of Mongolia, his brother and a cat his companions while his parents are out. Contrast that to the life of Mari and Hattie in the metropolitan cities- which aren’t that different from each other- whose environment is filled with every modern-day distraction we often take so easily for granted.

Throughout the film, Balmès juxtaposes these radically different circumstances to mostly amusing effect. In one sequence, he cuts from Mari’s exasperation as she tries to place a wooden spindle over a disc with a hole in the centre to Bayar’s simple and unadulterated joy unspooling a roll of toilet paper over the floor. Other similar sequences further illustrate the differences between their interactions and mastery over their surroundings each of them must achieve, hence challenging viewers in the age-old debate between nature and nurture in a child’s development.

But despite their different surroundings, “Babies” is as much a celebration of universalities as much as it is an illumination of distinctions. In their gestures and especially in their facial expressions, one sees the universality in the expression of joy, anxiety and distress. It is these commonalities that allow us to perceive emotions even among those of other cultures, and is intriguing to wonder how they originated within our species.

As textured as this film comes, Balmès’ approach actually makes it deceptively simplistic. He offers no voice-over at any point in the film, choosing instead to let the high-definition video images do the talking. So besides the obvious “aww-shucks” moments in the film (and yes there are plenty), Balmès also lets his audience ruminate over the parallels he tries to draw during the entire 79-min duration. It isn’t always obvious- but those who take up the challenge will ultimately find this a more fulfilling experience.

Even if you don’t, there’s still much to enjoy in this absolutely delightful observation of those early years of growing up. True, it is largely syruped, but ain’t those often the moments that stay with us? For all their brattiness, or their occasional mood swings, babies are still beautiful, adorable and irresistible- and this ode to the most loveable period in the lifespan of our species is every bit as beautiful, adorable and irresistible as its subjects.

Movie Rating:

(Like its subjects, this documentary is oh-so-cute, adorable and irresistible)

Review by Gabriel Chong