There is no commentary, no narration, no interruption, no real sense of time; just the day in and day out of the life as a baby from the mundane to the little victories and milestones. I almost stood in the theater and cheered when one of the little boys FINALLY stood by himself (behind all of the others) with the wind in his fuzzy (and big!) hair like the ruler of his own little grass hut kingdom. I wanted to yell out, "NAAACHOOOOOOO!!!!"
Some are surprised by the intimacy of the scenes and approximation of the cameras as they captured the very essence of familial life by following four babies from different parts of the world through their first 18 months. Some are shocked and feel the documentary exploits a global economic imbalance. Others comment on the lack of obvious similarities that all cultures and all mothers and all babies share; and the natural development and evolution thereof.
I, personally, did not need an outlined cheat sheet to connect-the-dots nor a talking GPS roadmap to fully enjoy the journey. I think the beauty was in the inference and the simplicity of it all and I remain comforted in the confirmation that all any of us ever need - from birth through adulthood really - to grow and reach within our own innate will to be happy and to survive; to find the BIG personalities in all of our LITTLE persons...is love.
Besides - baby cheeks just make me want to smile. How about you?
