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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Thursday, 06 May 2010 10:37

The fact that these are very expensive pseudo-home movies won’t be enough to redeem the film if you don’t have an almost infinite interest in the subject matter.

Your enjoyment of Thomas Balmes’ Babies, a documentary which follows four babies through their first year of life, will depend far more on what you bring to the film that what he’s put in it. If you heartily endorse the film’s tagline “Everyone loves [babies]” and have an interest in watching just about anyone’s baby sleep, drool, cry and do other baby-like things, then you’re squarely in the target market for this film. Add extra points if you think The Family of Man was the greatest photo exhibit eve,r and subtract points if maternal and infant nudity offends you (although if it does, I’m not sure how much you can really claim to love babies since they don’t come into the world wearing snugglies, nor is infant formula their natural food).

On the other hand, if the thought of sitting through what is essentially 90 minutes of home movies makes you want to claw your eyes out, then you’ll probably want to give this one a miss. The fact that these are very expensive pseudo-home movies beautifully shot (by Jerome Almeras, Frazer Bradshaw and Steeven Petitteville) and edited (by Reynald Bertrand and Craig McKay) with a calculated multi-culti angle probably won’t be enough to redeem the film if you don’t have an almost infinite interest in the subject matter.