 "Interesting, disturbing yet overwhelming!" | 2009-09-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5KLP39OKXD5P |
| Quite interesting film, Nicole Kidman in a very different, very unusual role moreover playing a lady trapped in a very unusual situation. The film deals with an unusual subject but definately cannot be considered ungenuine at all. We get familiar with almost all the charecters, their emotions, their feelings etc. Its not just a young boy and a grown up lady staring at each other, there are things going on, there is a tension bulding up and its shown reasonably in the film. The film does not emphasize on 'Pedophilia' issues, though it just attracts you and you can't take your eyes off the screen. Decent film-making here and reasonable performence by everyone. |
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 "Nicole Loves Kid Man" | 2009-08-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: A61HQ9CX7E1EH |
If we were to sum up the main theme of this story in the fewest words the title of this review would say it all. When this movie was first released the main and possibly only draw was that the story was about the relationship of an adult woman and a 10 year old boy who says he is the woman's dead husband. The 100's of other reviews can inform you of the basics of this movie. I would like to save some of you time by saying that the story is weak and, unless you like tales involving obsessive and emotionally irresponsible people, than you may be tempted to stand up and yell, "Are there any adults around here?!". You may find yourself torn. You may like tales like "The Turn of the Screw", where you wonder if the premise could be true or is it just a case of mental illness, That is, if you catch that the boy finds the love letters of the widow's dead husband's mistress before he announces he is her dead husband. Our, you may be deeply troubled as to why would responsible adults allow an unhealthy infatuation continue between an emotionally troubled adult and a child. I admit I am biased. I have enough friends who have been damaged when they were young. We don't need stories like this to inspire troubled people to pull children into their fantasies and mess with their minds.
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 "Interesting and thought provoking" | 2009-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A21EGMJ3E78LPV |
| Birth is one of Nicole Kidman's best! I love films such as this where no answer is directly handed to the audience. It maintains its sense of mystery and as the Amazon review states, will have people thinking and talking days after it's over. Was that 10 year old boy really her dead husband? How did he know so many intimate details yet not know others? Certain people may not have the patience for a film such as this which is unfortunate. This is not your standard Hollywood thriller and that's okay. It is more in the realm of a dramatic mystery. And sometimes, life is a mystery and there are events which we cannot explain or are beyond are control. I feel as though Birth is a prime example of that. The cinematography is excellent, the acting wonderful and the music outstanding. This is a brave, commanding performance by Kidman, one of the best actresses of our time. Birth should be watched multiple times because you will get something new from it each time. Pay careful attention to this richly engrossing, sophisticated picture that deserves far more praise than it's getting. If you want mindless, silly entertainment you should be watching something else. Birth is in a higher class. |
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| "Super dark creepy...if ever a parody needed to be made!" | 2008-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By mackshere |
| "Old enough to pee, old enough for me".br /Some of you guys are familiar with that saying. It's talking about child porn, pedaphilia, a little robbing of the cradle. Quite an uncomfortable topic, one that comes with all sorts of moral and legal implications.br /br /Birth is an enthralling eerie twist to this subject, it adds a twisted spiritual element. The beautiful Nicole Kidman's dead hubby apparently gets reincarnated as a young boy and tries to reenter her. life. This kid knows all the intimate details of the couple's past. Ah geez....br /br /Kidman gives an incredibly brave performance. The premise is bizarre and controversial, not to mention interesting. Unfortunately though, it doesn't play out extremely well. After the drastic revelation, the plot really doesn't have any place to go.br /br /I'd still say this is worth a look. It's different and provocative. But if you can't give the story the slightest trace of plausibility or consideration, it'd probably get annoying.br /br /With this dark, foreboding melodrama, I can't help but think of several sick, hilarious ideas for an outrageous parody. Hollywood, feel free to send me an email. |
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| "One of 2004's most misunderstood films." | 2008-04-13 |
| - Reviewed By moviemn17 |
This film is a psychological mystery that calls to mind the works of Stanley Kubrick and Steven Speilberg. Much controversy was made over this film when it was released - and understandably so - but it is so well acted, and handled with such subtlety that you become completely engrossed with the story. Nicole Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance, and I believe that she should have been nominated for an Oscar.
The story is about a woman named Anna, who is preparing to marry her second husband, Joseph. Her first husband, Sean, passed away a few years ago, and she is still greiving his death. One day, a ten year old boy shows up at her mother's birthday party unannounced, and tells her that he is her late husband. At first, she forcefully asks him to leave, but he refuses to leave her alone. He knows things about Sean that no one else would have known. He knows intimate details about her friends and family, and soon it becomes overwhelming, and she starts to believe that it is a possibility that this young man could be the reincarnation of her husband. Most of the film is about her inner struggle with this complicated situation, but the best thing about the film is that it handles it with common sense. The characters act realistically, and that makes all the difference. This film avoids sappiness at all costs, and that makes it all the more powerful and unsettling.
Young co-star Cameron Bright is quite good in his complicated role. People may say that he is simply imitating Haley Joel Osment, but they would be wrong. This is not your typical "creepy kid" role. He brings real depth to the material, and is totally convincing. Screen veteran Lauren Bacall is always a joy to watch, and she plays Kidman's mother.
This is probably one of the most misunderstood films of 2004. Yes, the ending does seem like a cop-out, but I believe it is open to multiple interpretations. BIRTH also boasts some excellent cinematography from Harris Savides, and a haunting score by Alexandre Desplat. |
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| "Soft, delicate and dark; a film that gets inside you and breeds emotion..." | 2008-03-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: ANCOMAI0I7LVG |
`Birth' is one of those eerily commanding films that washes the viewer in this pathos of human anxiety and creates a mood that is so morose you can't help but fall into its trance. That may sound like a bad thing but it is not; in fact it is far from a `bad thing'. When I first saw `Birth' I was put off by the fact that I didn't understand it, but then I saw it again and realized that you are not supposed to fully understand it. The final frames say so much for the realities of grief and longing that I have this intense urge to forgo the rest of my review and just speak of Kidman's masterful performance; but I'll contain myself.
The film revolves around Anna and her husband Sean. The problem is that Sean has been dead for ten years and Anna is soon to marry Joseph. All is going well in Anna's life until she meets a young (ten years young) boy who claims to be her husband reincarnated. The claim is immediately shrugged off as preposterous but this boy possesses a knowledge, and intimate knowledge, of Anna and Sean's marital relationship that soon Anna (and even those around her) start to wonder if it is indeed true.
The prose itself is strange and it does lead to some awkward and eerie situations, but it is handled with such delicacy and the scenes creep upon you with such subtle grace that you almost forget entirely your feelings of discomfort and just allow the film to take you to those places you never really wanted to go. For instance, the one scene that garnered so much talk was the bathtub scene between Kidman and Bright. The scene is above and beyond uncomfortable but each actor approaches it with such dire dedication that the scene becomes a brilliant work of art. Its awkwardness becomes this overwhelming emotion within us that gives way to genuine feeling. It's one of those scenes that just `went there' and in the end had to.
This film is uplifted by the brilliant cast who all do such a marvelous job with their parts. Young Cameron Bright is one to watch out for. He has an eerie maturity about him that will lead to some interesting roles (as if this wasn't one already). Danny Huston is just marvelous here. The man has a genuine charm that I find compelling, and as the disgruntled fiancé we can see his pure unbridled emotion as he faces this young boy threatening to take his love away from him. We watch him steadily start to believe this boy and thus begin to fear he'll lose everything. It's such a masterfully constructed performance.
That brings me to Nicole Kidman. What can I say? I am not one who believes Nicole to be the greatest actress working today. I actually feel she's a tad overrated. For every `great' performance there are quite a few mediocre ones, and her choice in film makes it difficult to watch her embrace what talent she does possess. But there is no denying that her portrayal of Anna is utterly flawless. In fact, I'm tempted to say that it is her finest performance to date. As Anna she truly gets under the characters skin and fleshes out the accuracies of a widow's grief. When I say that the final frames say so much for the realities of grief and longing I'm referring to the pain etched across Anna's face. She knows her husband, she knows his soul and she can feel him in her soul regardless of what anyone else says. As we witness her begin to believe this young child we too begin to believe him because if she says he's her husband then he must be. It's that reality that makes the ending so painful.
I also feel as though I must single out director Jonathan Glazer because without his delicate approach this would not have retained any ounce of clarity and would have thus become pretentious and pointless.
`Birth' is not a film for everyone. It is very avant-garde and thus may be too artsy for some people. It is very ambiguous (or is it) and ends on a very strange note, one that may leave some unfulfilled. I'm not saying that this film is perfect by any means, because it even took multiple watches for me to fully understand and rally behind it. In the end, `Birth' is the type of movie that, if watched with the right level of open-mindedness, can prove to be so much more than you bargained for. |
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