Are 'Babies' the New Penguins?

I dare anyone -- OK, anyone with ovaries -- to resist the cutefest that is the trailer for 'Babies.' Perhaps, feeling a bit manipulated by the onslaught of fat cheeks and wriggling legs (it is a marketing tool, after all), you may try to fight the warm glow bubbling up inside, but don't bother. It's a losing battle. And if you happen to be pregnant, you're a goner.

The preview, which has been getting a huge amount of attention, features four infants from various parts of the world (Mongolia, Japan, Namibia, United States) fighting, dancing, crawling and, in the Mongolian baby's case, having his bath interrupted by a thirsty goat. It heralds a new documentary by director Thomas Balmes that simultaneously follows these infants from birth to first steps, along with their families.

Will it be the year's surprise hit? Is Crawl of the Babies the new 'March of the Penguins'? I dare anyone -- OK, anyone with ovaries -- to resist the cutefest that is the trailer for 'Babies.' Perhaps, feeling a bit manipulated by the onslaught of fat cheeks and wriggling legs (it is a marketing tool, after all), you may try to fight the warm glow bubbling up inside, but don't bother. It's a losing battle. And if you happen to be pregnant, you're a goner.

The preview, which has been getting a huge amount of attention, features four infants from various parts of the world (Mongolia, Japan, Namibia, United States) fighting, dancing, crawling and, in the Mongolian baby's case, having his bath interrupted by a thirsty goat. It heralds a new documentary by director Thomas Balmes that simultaneously follows these infants from birth to first steps, along with their families.

Will it be the year's surprise hit? Is Crawl of the Babies the new 'March of the Penguins'?

Ever since the trailer started appearing in theaters at the end of last year, audiences have been intrigued by its intimate scenes of multicultural babyhood, backed by Sufjan Stevens' sprightly tune, 'The Perpetual Self, Or "What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"' Especially arresting are the clip's opening scenario of two African babies playing and fighting, which ends with one crying pitifully (hard to explain why this is so adorable, but it is) and the closing tableau of the aforementioned goat sneaking up behind an unsuspecting baby in a bathtub.


Versions of the trailer have been posted on YouTube and numerous websites, garnering many hits and comments, the vast majority of them positive and anticipatory, but others, naturally, expressing disgust at all the ooh-ing and aah-ing. As of this week, 'Babies' has almost 7,000 fans on Facebook, and that number is increasing daily as we approach the film's release date, May 7. Which happens to be Mother's Day Weekend (aw...).

Focus Films, the movie's U.S. distributor, sums it up this way: "Re-defining the nonfiction art form, 'Babies' joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all." In other words, this could be the feel-good movie of the decade.

Producer Alain Chabat initially came up with the idea of making a film documenting babies' development without any background commentary, just music. (He has described his pitch as "a wildlife film about human babies.") Documentary filmmaker Balmes ('Damages,' 'A Decent Factory'), a fellow Frenchman, welcomed the opportunity to make a "film of pure observation," sans script. He wound up shooting 400 days over two years, beginning in 2006.

The stars of his film are Ponijao, who lives with her family near Opuwo, Namibia; Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, near Bayanchandmani; Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo; and Hattie, who resides with her family in San Francisco. It would be interesting to find out how they and their parents are impacted by the movie, especially if it is a huge success. (Maybe there will be a sequel, similar to Michael Apted's 'Up' series?)

A lot of the movie's appeal lies in our curiosity about how babies are brought up in extremely diverse cultures. Ponijao's family, village-dwelling members of Namibia's Himba tribe, will surely raise their girl very differently than Mari's parents, who live in bustling Tokyo, though we'll undoubtedly see aspects of child-rearing that are universal. (It seems safe to assume that there aren't any terribly traumatic scenes included.)

Given the film's many selling points -- educational value, cuteness factor, visual style -- it appears that 'Babies' delivers in every way. Let us know: are you personally psyched about the movie?