Birth (2004)
"Birth"day Girl.
Starring: |
Nicole Kidman
|
Released By: |
Fine Line Features |
Released In: |
2004 |
Rated: |
R |
Reviewed By: |
Adam Mast |
Grade: |
B |
Birth caused quite a stir at a couple of different film festivals earlier this year. Why all the hoopla? Your guess is as good as mine. There is one scene in the picture that is mostly responsible for the majority of the controversy and when I finally saw it, I was quite shocked. Not because I was disgusted. No, I was shocked because there wasn't anything in the least bit distasteful about the scene.
In Birth, Nicole Kidman plays Anna, a woman reeling from the untimely death of her loving husband, who is finally moving on with her life. When we pick up the action nearly ten years have passed, and Anna has found love again in the form of Joseph (Danny Huston), a man who's finally proven himself to her after a difficult courtship. Shortly before their wedding day however, a strange occurrence takes place as ten year old Sean (Cameron Bright) appears from out of nowhere and practically orders Anna not to marry Joseph. The order itself isn't nearly as odd as the reason. Sean professes to be Anna's dead husband reincarnate, and he has startling memories to back up his claim
Birth is tricky material to say the least. It would be extremely difficult for any film maker to approach this type of movie and keep it from becoming something completely absurd. Second time film maker Jonathan Glazer (he made the terrific Sexy Beast) does an admirable job delving into this story with a serious and delicate hand. For the most part, he's created a flawed but haunting picture that, during it's strongest moments reminded me a little of a Kubrick film.
Nicole Kidman is outstanding in the lead. Much of this performance is revealed through actions rather than dialogue. One of her most powerful moments is one in which she's merely listening to a classical music concert in a packed theater. While Kidman doesn't utter a single word, her face says it all, as the camera slowly dollies in on her. It's a risky move in terms of the rhythm of the movie but Kidman pulls it off and turns in another solid performance.
Young Cameron Bright (last seen in the silly thriller Godsend) plays Sean, and he's very effective in a turn that is both creepy and gentle. By the end of the picture (which is fair to say is quite ambiguous), Cameron's quiet performance leaves us unsure what to believe. For such a young kid he makes the most of some awfully tough scenes - including one in which he and Kidman engage in a frank sexual conversation. It isn't exactly "Kinsey" frank, but it makes for slightly uncomfortable viewing nonetheless.
Birth touches on everything from reincarnation to grief, and even though it includes elements that many of us might not believe in, it does so in a compelling way. Kidman's Anna certainly doesn't start out as a believer either, but by the end of the picture, events unfold that have her questioning her own beliefs.
And the fashion in which many of the characters react in Birth after hearing Sean's revelation, are interesting and unexpected, particularly Joseph who doesn't take to the news well at all. In fact, during one point in the film, he's so distraught and angry towards Sean, that he begins to act like a jealous (and immature) boyfriend.
The "big scene" in question features Sean taking a bath with Anna . And while this may sound incredibly taboo, the scene is extremely tasteful and hardly the unsettling piece of cinema trash that others would have you believe.
Birth is hardly flawless. It has moments that don't work. Toward the end of the picture, there's an emotional confrontation between Anna and Sean that feels overacted and over directed, but it doesn't take away from the overall provocative nature of this otherwise intimate, haunting and strangely touching film. If Birth tells us anything, it's that love conquers all.
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