If one really loves the sight of newborn infants, chances are there will be a lot of crawling towards the new documentary, Babies.
Artwork by Rebecca Holt.
A nearly wordless documentary that chronicles the first year of four infants in the world, is how Babies can be simply defined. It is not really a film that is supposed to have a point, as Babies just educates the audience on the lifestyles of four newborns while providing them with lots of cute baby antics sure to warm their hearts. While it may bore some if they do not like newborns, chances are these babies and the ways they live will intrigue most who see the film.
Babies follows four infants; Bayar (Jargal) from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia; Ponijao from Opuwo, a village in Namibia, Africa; Mari from Tokyo; and Hattie from San Francisco. All four were filmed from the moments they were born to their very first steps. In the opening scene (which transitions to the births), the audience sees two African children, a boy and girl, playing with rocks. However, the two soon get into typical sibling antics: the boy gently shoves the girl, and crying is the end result. The moment these babies appear on the screen, there is a lot of “Awwws,” and “How cutes,” and I’ll admit, these words did come out of my mouth and not just during this scene.
There seems to be no constant order for the infants (there is no pattern for screen time), so I will introduce each one based on my order of favorites. I will begin with the most entertaining baby, Bayar (from Mongolia), as he seemed to have the most personality. A lot of the footage consisted of sibling rivalry, as Bayar had an older brother (only a few years older though) who seemed to like harassing him. In one scene, Bayar’s brother is filmed striking him with a scarf, which eventually results in tears. However, what made Bayar my favorite baby was his personality, as he loved animals (a lot of his filmed time was shown with animals). His moods seemed to be diversified (he got upset sometimes, but for the most part, Bayar was happy), and for a baby, he did the most stuff. When I saw a scene that showed Bayar atop a pickup truck, I could not help but wonder how he got up that high.
Mari (from Japan) would probably have to be my second favorite (although I did like Punijao a lot too), as she had personality as well. In a scene that really does her justice, Mari is shown playing with various objects on the floor. When she comes across a doughnut-shaped object, Mari begins trying to figure out what goes through the hole. Soon getting frustrated, Mari begins to weep and kick her feet on the ground multiple times. I liked this scene because although it may have seemed like she was crying, it also seemed as if Mari was just angry at not being able to succeed in fitting two objects together.
Although I might have like Mari more, Ponijao (from Africa) was just as interesting, if not more. Although the sanitary conditions were poor (flies everywhere, no toilet paper or showers, an oatmeal-like substance for a meal), Ponijao did not seem to mind, as watching the flies intrigued her. For an infant, Ponijao did some cute things such as dancing, but one of the best scenes in the entire film was when Ponijao balanced a cup atop her head while she walked.
I hate to say this, but I just did not think the baby from America, Hattie, was a good choice, as she did not have much personality. Her parents were very ecological and into the whole “go green” scenario, as Hattie was even born the natural way, inside her home. However, Hattie did not seem to have much, if any personality. I could not help but wonder why her family was chosen to represent America’s babies, as there are many more exciting babies then her.
Yeah, I thought Babies was a cute movie, although parents may be more apt to enjoy it. All four infants seemed to have an equal amount of screen time and it was interesting to watch them crawl, speak their first words, and take their first steps, simultaneously. However, they never really did anything absolutely extraordinary – I have seen babies do things worthy of the camera before that were more amazing than anything shown in Babies. Some people may be more interested in seeing Babies than others but it is a good movie, as it has an interesting concept.
Rating: ★★★★☆
