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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: New Line Home Video
Salesrank: 35361
Released: April 19, 2005 |
| Our Price: $0.01 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In this mesmerizing and suspenseful film a woman (Kidman) becomes convinced that a ten-year-old boy is the reincarnation of her dead husband.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS UPC: 794043783821 Manufacturer No: N7838
Description of Birth:
As directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) and dimly lit by cinematographer Harris Savides, Birth is a melancholy chamber piece, its pensive mood sustained by nearly sub-sonic nuances in a fine, thematically developed score by Alexandre Desplat. All of these fine qualities are well-matched by the somber performance of Nicole Kidman, playing a still-grieving widow of 10 years, about to remarry when a 10-year-old boy (Cameron Bright) arrives to announce that he is her dead husband, reincarnated and full of convincing answers to personal marital questions. Rather than go for Sixth Sense-like chills and thrills, Glazer approaches Birth as a conundrum with no clear-cut solution, and his directorial style is so subdued, so deliberately understated, that most of the story's dramatic impact is sacrificed to oppressively dour atmosphere. If it doesn't lull you to sleep, Birth might hold your attention as a strange, subtle thriller in miniature scale. With its delicate, mature approach to the processes of grieving and recovery, however, Birth rewards attentive viewers attuned to the film's ultra-low-key wavelength, and it's guaranteed to provoke interesting post-movie discussions. Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston, Anne Heche, and Arliss Howard lead an esteemed supporting cast. --Jeff Shannon
Birth Reviews:
Super dark & creepy...if ever a parody needed to be made! 
2008-09-12 - "Old enough to pee, old enough for me".
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.
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....
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.
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.
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.
One of 2004's most misunderstood films.
2008-04-13 - 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.
Soft, delicate and dark; a film that gets inside you and breeds emotion...
2008-03-31 - `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.
A Pretentious Clunker Which Sometimes Borders On Child Pornography 
2008-03-28 - The premise of"Birth"as has been detailed in over 100 previous reviews is that a young woman,played by Nicole Kidmann,a widow for a decade,is about to re-marry..Suddenly a ten year old boy appears,sneaking into her apartment during a birthday celebration for her mother,and announces that he is her long dead husband..From this point onward the film,which is has a rather ridiculous plot to begin with,becomes even more ridiculous..The reactions to this rather obsessive behaviour on the part of the boy by all of the adults is about as realistic as the notion that the moon is made out of green cheese..The widow,already pegged as being in fragile mental health before the boy's startling assertions about his alledged idenity becomes even more unhinged,although the manifestations of same are subtle rather than heavy handed and obvious..After some early doubt she falls for his story,as do some of the other adult members of her family..The boy's parents,instead of taking the boy to the nearest shrink instead let the boy stay overnight at the widow's apartment,thus enabling the mental problems of both widow and boy and letting them grow..
While there in the widow's apartment,with the apparent blessing of all of the widow's kin(with the sole exception of "joseph" the widow's newly aquired fiance,whose reaction is jealous rage)the widow explores the boy's obsession and,once convinced that the boy is indeed the reincarnated husband,responds to him as if there is nothing wrong with a thirty-something woman being in love with a ten year old boy..This particularly perverse theme is taken to disgusting extremes when the two are both naked together in the same bathtub,and,a little later,ALMOST sleep together in the same bed..
Well,it turns out that a little incident at the very begining of the film SHOULD have tipped us all off and,by the way,blown the whole premise of the film to much-deserved bits..The film opens with the engagement party for the widow and"Joseph"..One of the invited guests is Anne Heche,wife of"Clifford" who had been best man at the widow's first wedding ..Heche tells her husband to go up to the party without her,making some excuse..She then sneaks across the street to a park and disappears into some bushes where she buries a sheaf of papers and thinking that she has not been seen,leaves to attend the party..But she had been seen,by a boy,who had followed her..
As it turns out the sheaf of papers are letters ..Heche had been the mistress of Kidmann's first husband and the letters are evidence,and all of the details necessary for someone to know things,intimate things,about Kidmann and her deceased husband..
So,obviously,the boy found the letters,read them,and imagined himself to have become the dead husband..Reason enough,when he first says so,for any REAL parent to have him looked at by competent professionals..
Also obviously,the widow is in a very fragile state of mental health,and when,very quickly,she buys into the boy's story,the adults around her should have made sure that she too see a doctor,rather than consenting to such perverse things as letting the two be naked together in one of those small,claw-footed white bath-tubs..
Some think that this film is"daring" and "Brilliant",but it is a weak story,dependent upon extreme,almost pornographic themes to keep it stumbling along,to a very lame and unconvincing conclusion...
Pulls you in.
2008-03-17 - I couldn't decide if the film pulled me in because I found the emotional turmoil and Kidmans character's obsession with a child disturbing, or if the very nature of the deep grief kept me watching, waiting to see how it would be resolved. I do wish the ending would have been more clear. I never was convinced that the child was lying, or if he had been fooled by an adult with a secret and slight yearning to hurt the wife of her lover. There's a slight 'porno' scene with Danny Huston for those turned off by naked butts, for the rest of us who can handle adult themes, this sad, slightly surreal movie might be perfect for cleaning out the tear ducts. Not Kidman's best role, but it wasn't a bad movie if you crave a deep drama. (Horror fans will want to check out actor Danny Huston as lead vampire in '30 Days of Night').
Chrissy K. McVay - Author
