Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. There’s nothing quite like evaluating the life cycle to ponder the human condition. Personalities, socio-economics, and other cultural disparities aside, “Babies” is a reminder of how similar the experience is of each person in their first few stages of life.
This documentary, released on May 7 to play at Salem Cinema, intimately follows the lives of four infants being raised in disparate locales around the globe.
Make no mistake, the film’s U.S. distributors (Focus Features) obviously hope to appeal to the film’s ideal crowd by opening during Mother’s Day weekend.
That’s not to say that family-free individuals can’t enjoy the movie and glean from its depiction of childhood development, whether one was raised in a highly developed part of the world or in a more agrarian setting.
French director Thomas Balmes chose two boys and two girls as his subjects: Ponijao from Opuwa, Namibia; Mari from Tokyo, Japan; Bayarjargal from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia; and Hattie from San Francisco, USA.
A study in geography, anthropology, and sociology, “Babies” gives viewers a glance into their socialization, whether “mommy-n-me” class or playing side-by-side with a sibling.
Whether they’re engrossed by a plastic toy or a rock, the fascination is the same. Each infant cries, laughs and crawls just as any healthy child does. In this way, the film is trite. But how can it not be?
A child’s lack of self-awareness is refreshing and this movie is a great reminder of that.
Though personalities begin to emerge, these infants can’t comprehend the differences of being raised where they are versus the lives of their three counterparts.
Without interviews vying for screen time to tell the story, there’s room for endearing moments such as a goat drinking out of Bayar’s bath water. However, there isn’t as much context to their individual stories as I would have expected.
I won’t throw “Babies” out with the bathwater. The cinematography is picturesque, though there are too many still-camera shots on the babies.
Whether you enjoy the company of children or not may be determined by if you’d make it through the approximate 80 minutes of footage. I doubt the film’s ability to completely hold most people’s attention throughout, but the message is one I think everyone can relate to.
