Yeah, we know the trailer and featurette for the Focus Features documentary “Babies” has been kicking around for a while, but they’ve recently been given an HD bow over at Apple Trailers and with the release date around the corner we thought we’d see what it was all about.
The film follows four babies from different areas of the world (Mongolia, Japan, Namibia, USA) for a year, starting from the day they were born. Director Thomas Balmés (personal injury law firm doc “How Much Is Your Life Worth”) and actor Alain Chabat (Napoleon in “Night at the Museum”) explained that they aimed to display times when each respective baby would encounter something new. Judging from the trailer, this can be anything from the first bathing session to the first examination of a blank CD.
It’s unclear whether or not this documentary will prove to be worth seeing. On one hand, it seems to be nothing more than an hour and a half of trying to resist saying “He’s/She’s so adorable!!” in your best Long Island accent. On the other hand, it does look rather beautiful (one of the three cinematographers, Jérôme Alméras, shot the underrated “I’ve Loved You So Long”) and because there doesn’t seem to be any narration or interviews, it almost seems reminiscent of the jaw dropping film “Baraka.” Also worth noting is the music in trailer, Sufjan Stevens’ “The Perpetual Self, or ‘What would Saul Alinsky Do'” which is always nice to hear over babies crawling around beautiful landscapes. Release date is May 7, 2010, just in time for Mother’s Day. –Christopher Bell