Babies ( Balmes, 2010 ) Is An Unusual Documentary Film

Babies (Balmes, 2010) is an unusual documentary film that does not have any narration. This documentary film follows four babies from four different countries: Ponijao from Namibia, Bayar from Mongolia, Mari from Japan, and Hattie from the United States. The film takes viewers to these four babies’ development from their birth to roughly around age one. These four babies are different starting from when they are born. While Namibian parents gets no help from hospital, American parents does not even think of giving birth to the children without going to the hospital. When the baby is born, Hattie meets the world with bunch of medical equipment whereas Namibian child gets no such test. Anyone who encounters Babies (Balmes, 2010) would realize how different culture affects children even from their infancy. Most distinctively, it can be inferred that children development differs by the culture of parenting, the child’s attachment, and the child’s motor development. Babies (Balmes, 2010) depicts parenting styles of four parents by putting segments of each babies’ moment consecutively. Out of the many differences, it is hard not to notice the duration that the parents are around their children. Bayar’s, the Mongolian child, parents are busy working in the nomadic environment. It is portrayed that the parents often leave the child alone. However, Mari’s, the Japanese child, parents appears in most of her section of the film. The difference is also prominent in children’s hygiene.