Babies: the Movie

We went and saw the movie Babies last night at our local theatre.

The movie is a documentary that follows four babies from birth to their first birthday. It's an interesting look into four different cultures and environments and how each baby is raised. The babies come from Namibia, Japan, Mongolia, and San Francisco. There is very little dialogue, no omniscient narrator, just the sounds of the babies and their day to day activities. For the most part the movie can feel like a well shot and beautifully lit youtube/home video where funny little moments are captured of the Babies often by themselves reacting to their experiences and struggling with common baby limitations, with the occasional livestock interaction!

As an expectant parent- I found the movie sweet and also a nice example of how babies and children can get dirty, chew on a random bone or rock and end up being okay.  An excellent contrast to the more sterile approach of recent western child rearing. Another fun take home message- was how few possessions babies really require. My husband and I- with our small-esque apartment and desire to be "environmentally conscious" we want to limit the amount of toys etc that our child/children acquire- so this aspect specifically with the Namibian and Mongolian babies- was nice to see.  View the trailer below.