Babies

For Mother's Day, what could be more fitting than a documentary on babies? I read about it in the paper, and decided we just had to go. The film was showing at the Glenwood Arts theater, and we made the 3:00 showing.

Made by a French filmmaker, the movie follows four different babies in four countries: Namibia, in Africa; Mongolia; Japan; and the United States. The African baby is raised in a remote village, the Mongolian baby lives in a yurt on a vast, windswept landscape, the Japan baby is raised in a high-rise in hectic Tokyo, and the U.S. baby lives in San Francisco. We see the babies from their earliest moments, up to the point where they are walking on their own.

There is no narration in the film and no subtitles, so nothing gets in the way of the gorgeous camerawork and its adorable little subjects.

When we walked into the theater, it was packed. We sat in the 2nd row from the front, because nearly all the seats in the other rows were taken. Obviously, going to see Babies on Mother's Day was irresistable to a lot of people. But I didn't mind the crowd. Sitting in a packed house, surrounded by the oohing and ahhing and laughter of strangers, responding to the universal wonder of babies, only added to the experience.