shadowsofthevoid This movie makes me laugh every time I watch it. However we use it to entertain our child. Babies love to watch other babies and this is an hour and a half of baby footage in high quality with no narration. It keeps babies entertained when all other TV won't. I don't think the makers of this movie had this intended audience but I swear if you have a baby/toddler this movie is a god send.For any parent this is a must have movie for you library. It allows us to have a shower, clean the house, have five minutes peace. Other than this its a great movie and I enjoy watching it over and over with my daughter. I love seeing how other cultures raise their children and it is a fascinating look at the first year of life.

Sean Lamberger The name pretty much says it all here, as we follow four newborns from vastly different cultures through the first year of their lives. Without a spot of narration or even so much as a subtitle track for the non-English segments, it's a classic case of a film allowing its viewers to take whatever they want from it. As a relatively new parent myself, I was fascinated by the day-to-days of the two rural babies - one from the dust of west Africa, the other the grassy fields of Mongolia - and how completely alien their surroundings and practices seem from my comfortable perch here in the first world. It's tastefully filmed, with a particular emphasis on artistic framing and long, captivating shots of unsupervised children at play, encountering and discovering their world one step at a time. My young boys absolutely loved it, but at this point they'll watch almost anything with a cute face or two. Nice eye candy with a hint of deeper meaning, but not a show-stopper.

MrGKB ...nor the hard of heart or bereft of intellectual curiosity, "Babies" is a straightforward look at the first year or so of four babies born in disparate parts of the world. Narration is non-existent, the score by Bruno "Coraline" Coulais is whimsical and thankfully non-intrusive, the editing by Craig "The Silence of the Lambs" McKay and Reynald "Rwanda: History of a Genocide" Bertrand is tightly focused, ably abetting the fine direction by documentarian Thomas "How Much Is Your Life Worth?" Balmès. Production-wise, no one can fault "Babies." Beyond that, I'm unsurprised that the gentler sex rates this film more than a full point over the males. Sadly, only a handful of worldwide IMDbers appear to have bothered with the film, and I'm not sure if that's simply a reflection of poor distribution, or an indictment of the nature of IMDbers. Apparently, it's just now beginning to achieve any sort of genuine international distribution, theatrical or otherwise. If it ever does manage to penetrate mass consciousness, I suspect its mediocre rating on this site will rise. If not, well, more's the loss to cinematic hoi polloi.Documentary buffs will recognize elements of works like "March of the Penguins," "Winged Migration," and the like. Anyone willing to shelve their personal shibboleths and shove their cultural biases to the side will find much to enjoy, despite the lack of much of a dramatic arc beyond the natural progression of babies from helplessness to standing on their own two feet. And no one who deigns to call themself human or civilized can fail to recognize the uncomplicated theme of the commonality of experience and the universality of love from one side of the globe to the other. Highly recommended.

Quietb-1 "Babies" looks at the first year of four babies in four locations around the world. No narration, no dialogue, this visual documentary speaks for itself. From fancy toys and gadgets to playing with a spoon or a rock, the babies do their thing. From birth to the first step the babies seem on equal footing, but you can't help think at some point varied opportunities will leave a few babies literally in the dust.Four babies was the perfect number. Well photographed, a fun score and appropriate pace. Take a break from the explosions and in your face 3D movies and let "Babies" put a smile on your face.