Babies (Bebes) was a whole new movie experience for me. It’s a look at one year in the life of these four babies from around the world:
Bayer from Mongolia,
Ponijao from Namibia,
Mari from Tokyo and
Hattie from San Francisco.
Aren’t they just the cutest? I just want to give each one a hug and a smooch.
I’ve seen documentaries before but this one is unique. There is absolutely no dialogue. The only sound comes from the noises the babies make. There are a few words spoken by mothers and fathers but very few and no translations. Just watching them on the big screen and only hearing them is very powerful.
At the beginning of the film each child was introduced with the name and country printed in letters at the bottom of the screen. Then the film flowed back and forth from baby to baby often with the panorama shot to show which country and child we were seeing. It didn’t take long until I knew each baby on sight.
The photography is amazing. I was really taken with the panoramas of Mongolia, not to mention that sweet and sparkling baby boy. The panoramas were spectacular but the heart of the movie was the development of each baby across all four cultures. Just watching each one open their eyes, learn to coo, smile, crawl and walk was amazing, even though I’ve seen these miracles many times myself.
This movie may not be for all baby lovers. It was difficult watching the Namibian baby put rocks and other things from the dirt into his mouth. I was also embarrassed by the excesses the western babies had, even though I’m one of those grandmothers who buys too much stuff for her granddaughters. I’d recommend this movie as an excellent cross-cultural study child development and anyone who loves babies and can handle seeing them in various settings.
Here is the trailer to help you decide if this movie is for you.
I just love that trailer! To me it serves as a reminder to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures in life. I am a baby lover, so I bet I would enjoy the movie.
Margot, thanks so much for posting about this movie. A couple of my friends were talking about it and I just didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. The idea of watching babies for a year without any dialogue sounded like a real snoozer to me. However, after seeing that trailer and reading what you’ve said about it, I am utterly intrigued!
I saw previews of this and I liked it but thought that was enough. But it’s funny, I think it’s true about babies wallowing around in dirt “building their immune systems.” Still, whenever I see a baby throw its pacifier down on the floor at the airport or something, and the mother pick it up and just put it back in the baby’s mouth, I sure do cringe!
Mark & I saw this trailer when you were visiting us and we escaped for a movie (a BIG treat). Was this a lunch & matinee? I really want to see this movie, I’m a baby LOVER and completely interested in the different cultural viewpoints. IS there music playing throughout the movie? Thanks for sharing.
Well It looks like a cute movie. But I am not sure I could handle one that is all about babies. I cant see myself paying to watch this in a theater. Maybe If I was doing crafts and someone popped it in I would watch it. But…I just cant see myself going for that type of film. But the trailer looked great.
I would watch it, but I’d have to go alone — can’t even imagine trying to ask Bill. Plus N. Ft. Myers isn’t exactly a cultural oasis — I doubt this movie will even make it here.
Don’t know if we will get a chance to see this one out here in no-man’s-land, but it looks intriguing. I’m a big baby fan – especially now that my own are all grown – and it looks fascinating. Thanks for sharing.
I watched this trailer about a month ago and thought this looked like an interesting movie. I’ll probably rent the DVD from my library.
Hmmmm, I do love babies.
I’ve seen the trailer and was intrigued. I really should see it so I can maybe avoid the Western excesses
i always look for a good movie review first before watching new movies “
i can see a lot of movie reviews on the internet and i usually buy dvd movies with great reviews ~:.