Birth
When Nicole Kidman was asked why she agreed to play the role of Anna in Jonathan Glazer’s controversial new film Birth she couldn’t give a straight answer. All she knew was that she wanted to do it. It isn’t difficult to understand Kidman’s fascination with the story that centres around Anna’s meeting a ten year-old boy who says he is her dead husband Sean. He has come to prevent her from remarrying.
As one would expect, Anna and her family don’t believe him but soon it emerges that he knows things he couldn’t possibly know if he was any ordinary boy. The premise is absurd but the film is a very powerful vehicle for Kidman, who does one of her best performances here. The controversy surrounding the film boiled down to one particular scene where Anna and Sean take a bath together, which isn’t in the least sexualised. Sometimes I wonder if the time paedophile hunters spend cracking down on fictional accounts couldn’t be better spent actually hunting paedophiles.
Even though Birth abounds with stunning shots of a wintry New York, the opening sequence is just magnificent, and good performances, not just from Kidman but also from Lauren Bacall who plays her mother and child actor Cameron Bright as Sean, it doesn’t quite manage to live up to its promise. Ultimately Birth turns into a slightly disappointing cinematic experience.
Anna Solding
Little prepares us for what to expect in this deeply intense movie. The director undoubtedly moves us as he allows a little boy to intrude into Anna’s life and claim he is her deceased husband reincarnated. As the audience, we are deliberately kept in the dark just as Anna is, not knowing whether this little boy is lying or whether to believe that it is all true.
Convincing performances by Nicole Kidman as Anna and the little boy make this all the harder for us to decide. The audience is consequently kept in suspense throughout the entire movie.
Key features which allow the director to successfully do this include the film’s use of music and cinematography. From the beginning, we are given the impression that there is something sinister and menacing, subverting our initial expectations of pureness, innocence and warmth as associated with the title Birth. In particular, the director uses slow paced scenes that contrast to many other movies. This creates the feeling that everything is surreal and forces us to seriously consider topics we usually dismiss such as the possibility of reincarnation.
Overall, the film is powerful and worth watching. The ‘controversial’ scene recently discussed involving this movie should not mar the film’s clear merit in capturing its audience.
Lisa Hirai
