User Reviews

They burp. They cry. They poop. But they also make life unbelievably magical. Babies. We all love them.

It's a documentary with cute babies doing cute things. The documentary follows 3 girls and 1 boy in the first year of their lives: Ponijao lives in Opuwo, Namibia with her parents and 8 older siblings. Mari is an only child and is raised in the ultra-modern city of Tokyo, Japan. Bayar (short for Bayarjargal) lives with his parents and older brother Degi (short for Delgerjargal) on a family farm in Bayanchandmani, Mongolia. Last but not least, Hattie is raised in a very "green" family in San Francisco, California. There is absolutely no narration throughout the entire 80 minutes. It is simply a collection of video clips with some music. There's really no need for narration because the babies' actions speak for themselves and completely transcend language barriers.

The movie starts with a short introduction of each city and each baby. After birth, two go home in diapers, one is naked, and the other is bundle tightly into a baby burrito. All are adorable. Being a new born can be tough. Especially if you have older siblings because they can get jealous. Bayar's brother, Degi, is caught on camera repeatedly swinging a sweater at his helpless baby brother. Afterwards, Degi puts Bayar into a baby stroller and rolls him out of the house and onto their family cow pasture - and leaves him there. Hattie is kept under closer guard. As her mother cooks, she is bouncing around in a baby seat with bungee cords attached to a nearby door post. She finds it curious that her view constantly changes as she is rotating on each bounce.

As the babies begin to crawl around, they get more mischievous. Ponijao discovers that another child has an extra appendage between his legs. She gives it a quick tug. Flipping her loin cloth up, she's curious to find no such appendage! She laughs. Babies are so curious and it's amazing how fast they learn. Mari finds that a round wooden peg fits perfectly in the hole of an orange disk. Unfortunately, the peg falls out once she picks up the disk. She breaks into a convulsing cry as she rolls around on the floor and kicks bother of her legs. She sudden stops to try again. Upon failing to fix her toy she continues to cry.

Babies is both heartwarming and enlightening. It sheds light on the vast cultural differences in the way people perceive and handle pregnancy, birth, and raising babies. On the other hand, there are fundamental human qualities that cross national borders and are shared by each child. The cuteness is only interrupted by shocking differences. The thing that stood out the most was the amount of supervision. Ponijao had all sorts of stuff in her mouth, even half a bone she found in the dirt. Bayar is seen popping up from a truck bed stark naked as though he had just woke up from one hell of a night. I was shocked, but they look like they do just fine. In fact, if you stay for the credits, you'll see footage of them in present day.

If your husband is on the fence about having kids, take him to watch Babies. I guarantee you that it will be the end of that conversation. This movie is chock-full of moments that will make you smile without even realizing it. Guys, you don't even have to hide it this time. You might even score a few points with the ladies for being sensitive.

Be filial and take your mother to watch Babies on Mother's Day. Or you can take her to watch Iron Man 2.

Bro-Approved.

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"Babies" looks at the first year of four babies in four locations around the world. No narration, no dialogue, this visual documentary speaks for itself.

From fancy toys and gadgets to playing with a spoon or a rock, the babies do their thing. From birth to the first step the babies seem on equal footing, but you can't help think at some point varied opportunities will leave a few babies literally in the dust.

Four babies was the perfect number. Well photographed, a fun score and appropriate pace. Take a break from the explosions and in your face 3D movies and let "Babies" put a smile on your face.

French director Thomas Balmes (The Gospel According to the Papuans and Waiting for Jesus) latest documentaries subject matter is very simply just Babies, but is much more than that it as we watch and learn. His film, entitled "Babies", follows four babies from birth to their first steps. Culturally and environmentally each of these babies are from very different parts of the world. Ponijao, from Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, from Mongolia; Mari from Toyko, Japan; and Hattie from San Fransisco in the United States. The culture and environments of these babies are very diverse, yet as we learn through the film, and through these four babies, that we as humans have more in common then our perceived differences.

In the opening scene we meet Ponijao she is playing with rocks with another baby and it appears as if they are grinding flour together, so different from our western culture. Or is it? They are mimicking their mothers, just as in our western culture our children play in their plastic Little Tykes playhouses, imitating the world around them. Then Balmes introduces us to the four babies by showing us different aspects of the four births; we see Mari's mom writing in red on her newborns feet, Ponijao's mother covers her belly in a red clay paste, Bayarjargal's birth seems to be a water birth in the local hospital and we see Hattie in the hospital after birth being monitored. Four lives brought into the world.

From there Balmes film is really very different in that it is purely observation of these babies lives. There is not a narrator to guide you through the story. The images are the story. We watch the babies sleep, we see them nursing with their mothers, we watch them grow. We see them crawl and explore there are hilarious scenes like the opening scene of Ponijao playing and then fighting with another baby. A scene of Bayar (Bayarjargal) taking a bath when a goat comes along for a drink of water, there are scenes of a moms group taking a trip to the zoo. Each scene speaking differently to whom is watching. I would imagine that the film would be quite different for me to watch, if I was not a mother, with those early years of child raising behind me.You could watch Babies at different points of your own life and take away something very different.

Babies seems to be intentionally designed in a way that exploits this personal connection aspect. One that provides a very personal connection of the audience with the film. While Babies may speak differently to each viewer it also seems to have a universal message. While culturally we are all different and the environments that we are raised in are different there is something universal to being human. While we watch these four babies grow, we see that these four babies share many more commonalities, than difference that divide them.

A great film for Mother's Day weekend really a tribute to a mother's love, and a film that all ages can watch and enjoy.

...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.

We have a 5 weeks old baby. It was great - and very interesting to see this movie, primarily because

• you never take a peak into lives of forgotten African (Namibian) or Asian (Mongolian) cultures and from Europe Tokyo, Japan seemed very unusual too
• there is plenty of cuteness and tranquility in the fact that the 4 babies reach age 1 without any major issues. It calms you down as a parent
• apart from babies you see beautiful landscapes and animals too

BUT:

• this movie fails to address the facts that living anywhere as a baby in the world is NOT the same (2 out of 1000 infants die in Japan while 36 do in Namibia, not to mention diseases, pain, etc.)
• we see the good, the smile, the cute and we see... ...boredom. But many of the other emotions as worries, health issues, etc. seem non-existent
• you need to think long and hard until practices like circumcision and excision come to your mind

All-in-all: a good movie. Cute. Will make you smile. Will make you laugh. You might get some ideas what to do with your baby. Will make you think everything's all right. In Black Africa too. Don't expect a too much in-depth experience.

I am a professed baby junkie. Merely seeing a baby or toddler in person or in a picture elates and uplifts my mood and emotions. Therefore, I predicted that I would appreciate and savor the "Babies" DVD I purchased recently. My prediction satisfyingly came true. "Babies" is a contemplative but absorbing celebration of these remarkable beings.

The movie is essentially a "What if" stylistic experiment. What if we followed the broad outlines of a wildlife documentary, but with the subject being young human children instead of lions or elephants? What if we select a global approach by focusing on four children (one African, two Asian, and one North American) and compare and contrast their babyhood? What if we improved on the wildlife documentary and eliminated the distracting narration and commentary that purports to understand the subjects' motivations? What if we simply sit and watch the babies do their things and draw our own individual conclusions? It's a daring, risky approach and will not appeal to all cinematic tastes.

For example, if you prefer fast-paced, action-oriented documentaries, you probably won't enjoy "Babies". If you prefer deliberate, observant, leisurely paced stories, you will probably be more partial to the story. Of course, if you adore children, you will find paradise. The babies are the Namibian girl Ponijao, the Mongolian boy Bayarjargal, the Tokyo girl Mari, and the San Franciscan girl Hattie. We see all four during the interval from birth to about one year old. We see them interacting with their parents, their siblings, other babies, and their environment. They all exhibit the behaviors we expect from babies: wonderment, curiosity, contentment, frustration, fear, and triumphant satisfaction. We see them grow in experience and independence. Even though they may occasionally face an overzealous sibling, a scary gorilla and tiger, or a boring Native American spirit exhortation, all the babies exhibit spunk, intelligence, perception, and resilience. It's fun, charming, and even emotional to watch them react to something, and sometimes not even react at all as life swirls around them. I simply loved them all, and was relieved and gratified that their parents seemed to do so as well.

Of course, the babies' socioeconomic backgrounds run the gamut from the "primitive" savanna to the ultra-modern city, with Bayarjargal's milieu being an unusual hybrid of Mongolian farming steppe and technologically advanced yurt (including a laptop computer and satellite dish). But as other posters have commented, babies really don't care a whit about wealth and possessions. All that matters is that they receive love, support, and guidance, and they certainly do. Also, each baby is allowed a certain amount of freedom to explore his or her surroundings; no parent, when we occasionally see them, acts as a jailer or micromanager. They step in only when they have to (i.e. the baby is in danger of being hurt - which very seldom happens in the movie).

I think part of a baby's appeal is their ultimate mystery. Sure, we can usually figure out (from coos and cries) whether a baby is happy, sad, or frightened. But when they simply stare at something, what are they thinking? Nobody, not even the baby, really knows. I appreciate that "Babies" keeps silent and non-judgmental about that mystery and does not indulge psychological theories and speculation about the children's' motivations. However, the viewer may come up with some of his or her own.

The movie rotates more or less in sequence among the four children, which all more or less receive equal time. Again, the movie is non-judgmental about the children's' race and circumstances; for example, it does not wring its hands about Ponijao's "poor" upbringing or tout Mari's and Hattie's formative advantages (e.g. baby yoga classes). Babies don't care about those things and the movie gently reminds us that adults shouldn't either. All that matters are the love babies receive and the pleasure they give in return.

"Babies" made me chuckle with the children's unself-conscious antics but even more often made my eyes mist with their mere presence. The movie reminds us that babies are one of nature's (God's) true masterpieces and that their existence is a comforting reminder of humanity's ultimate immortality.