Review of Babies

...nor the hard of heart or bereft of intellectual curiosity, "Babies" is a straightforward look at the first year or so of four babies born in disparate parts of the world. Narration is non-existent, the score by Bruno "Coraline" Coulais is whimsical and thankfully non-intrusive, the editing by Craig "The Silence of the Lambs" McKay and Reynald "Rwanda: History of a Genocide" Bertrand is tightly focused, ably abetting the fine direction by documentarian Thomas "How Much Is Your Life Worth?" Balmès. Production-wise, no one can fault "Babies." Beyond that, I'm unsurprised that the gentler sex rates this film more than a full point over the males. Sadly, only a handful of worldwide IMDbers appear to have bothered with the film, and I'm not sure if that's simply a reflection of poor distribution, or an indictment of the nature of IMDbers. Apparently, it's just now beginning to achieve any sort of genuine international distribution, theatrical or otherwise. If it ever does manage to penetrate mass consciousness, I suspect its mediocre rating on this site will rise. If not, well, more's the loss to cinematic hoi polloi.

Documentary buffs will recognize elements of works like "March of the Penguins," "Winged Migration," and the like. Anyone willing to shelve their personal shibboleths and shove their cultural biases to the side will find much to enjoy, despite the lack of much of a dramatic arc beyond the natural progression of babies from helplessness to standing on their own two feet. And no one who deigns to call themself human or civilized can fail to recognize the uncomplicated theme of the commonality of experience and the universality of love from one side of the globe to the other. Highly recommended.