Babies Review: BABIES!!!

If you are like me and you have nearly missed your metro stop because you were really distracted by that cute baby eating/crying/smiling/clapping/sleeping, then you will love this movie.

Babies is a documentary that follows four babies through their first year of life. Hailing from Namibia, Japan, Mongolia and the US, Babies follows Ponijao, Mari, Bayar, and Hattie from their first moments on earth, through their first steps. With no script, no dialogue, and no subtitles, this movie is really just glorified people watching, or rather baby watching, and I loved it. By following children raised in such varied countries and environments, the movie shows that no matter where you are born, we all pretty much start out the same. While highlighting how we can all be so different (playing with rocks instead of in a hippy-dippy daddy-and-me class), we also see how we all share the common threads of parental love, curiosity, and wonder with the new world around us.

While I think the film’s aim (other than being adorable) is to show that basic human experiences are so completely universal, we also see how these babies aren’t really that different. I didn’t see an inner city baby juxtaposed with a baby born to royalty, and I didn’t see how a baby born into war is different from one born in a Scandinavian country. Despite being separated by thousands of miles and tongues, these babies were all born into families that seemed pretty “typical”. I’m no anthropologist, but from a general observer, these kids appeared to have pretty tight family structures (even though Bayar kind of entertained himself the whole time…). While this may be getting a little too socio-economic or psycho for a film that I had to massage my face after seeing because I was smiling so hard for the better part of an hour, I think it is worth something to think abut the differences the filmmakers chose to focus on. I am still on the fence as to whether their choices were superficial or significant in the attempt to show that from the inside looking out, the human experience is universal from the teeniest of eyes.

While these babies may or may not really be so different, who cares because they are so delightfully entertaining and adorable. No matter where babies are, they smile, cry, eat, poop, sleep, giggle, have sibling rivalries, play with animals, and sound insanely cute when they say “mama”. We are able to share instances of defeat and moments of triumph with these tiny stars, and the only disappointment while watching this film is felt when the babies don’t respond back to our smiles and waves like they do on public transportation or in a grocery store.

Despite my cynical tirade above about this being a false attempt to show the universality of being a baby, the end result is really quite satisfying. I was entertained not only by the babies, but by the amazing scenery and happy-go-lucky music selections in the background. I enjoyed vegging out for an hour or so and watching adorable things happen before me without any effort or brain power on my part. By watching babies be babies, you are reminded of the small joys that you may have forgotten about being one yourself. Whee!