Babies

Tracking four babies from vastly different cultures during the first two years of their lives, French director Thomas Balmes' Babies documents the universality of human development and socialization as the titular tiny creatures explore the world around them. Hattie in San Francisco and Mari in Tokyo are first-born children living in hectic, middle-class urban families—their daily lives are full of educational toys and playgroups. In contrast, Ponijao is the ninth child born into a matriarchal society in the flatlands of Opuwo, Namibia, while Bayar is the younger of two offspring of Mongolian herders living in a yurt near Bayanchandmani. Obviously this global cross-section of humanity was chosen to represent various socioeconomic strata and ways of life. As infants and toddlers, all four subjects share the common experience of being born, nursing, sleeping, bathing, playing, learning to walk, and starting to communicate with those around them—albeit in vastly different circumstances. Shot cinema vérité style, Babies reaches the inevitable conclusion that—regardless of divergent circumstances—babies grow up happy as long as they are loved. A delightfully engaging and photogenic exercise in cultural anthropology, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include “The Babies—Three Years Later” update featurette (4 min.), “Everybody Loves…Your Babies Sweepstakes Winners” home videos (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a small extras package for a solid documentary.] (S. Granger)