Check out some faces that more than just mothers can love.
By Jonathan Kiefer
Say what you will about Thomas Balmés’ documentary, but don’t accuse it of false advertising. Look at How Cute might also have worked as a title, but the director obviously wants some points for nonchalance. His film follows four babies through their first year of life: Bayar, in
Mongolia
; Mari, in Tokyo; Ponijao, in
Namibia
; and Hattie, the daughter of American independent filmmaker Frazer Bradshaw (the film’s cinematographer), in San Francisco.
That last detail might seem peculiar, but it’s important to bear in mind that far stranger quid pro quos have occurred in the history of moviemaking. Reportedly, Bradshaw got his gig behind the camera first, then had a funny-you-should-ask moment when Balmés inquired about possible American subjects to go in front of it. Young Hattie gets no special treatment, and it would be missing the point to play favorites anyway. Babies are pretty much the same everywhere: adorable!
Babies has no narration nor real “scenes,” although snippets of parental conversation do progress toward dialogue, and the infants’ naked needs do assume the weight of universally familiar objectives (must put in mouth, etc.).
The editing often emphasizes parallel actions: first steps or groping interactions with pets. But just as often, the shots and sequences seem to come and go as they please—as does the emphatically pleasant music, on hand to serve up major-key reassurances that no harm will befall the increasingly curious tots.
That subconscious disclaimer is useful, actually; it allows Balmés enough distance to stay cool even when recording such potential perils as a child left unattended among clambering livestock. Babies is all about hanging around and watching, letting the subjects speak (or gurgle) for themselves. The film strives to present a meditative portrait of emergent humans as they do what they do: grow quickly, resemble their parents, morph from tiny learning machines into people.
Meanwhile, Balmés passes no ostensible judgements on child-rearing techniques. If we happen to notice that only Americans bother to read parenting books, it’s probably because we can relate to that neurosis. If we especially like the part where the Mongolian goat sidles up to Bayar’s tub of bathwater and starts guzzling, it’s probably because Mother Nature has brought all of us up to appreciate her comedic flair.
Not a dispassionate work of anthropology, Babies is closer to an array of home movies, but with production values. How much you like it, of course, depends entirely on your tolerance for the ingratiating preciousness of other people’s kids. For scale alone, no amount of Facebook-posted videos can match the childhood privacy invaded or peer interest presumed by this film’s run on big screens worldwide. Having come out on Mother’s Day weekend, it should have no trouble finding its intended audience.
Babies
Directed by Thomas Balmés
With Bayar, Hattie, Mari and Ponijao
UA DeVargas
79 min.
PG
