Birth

I don't know if you can find any two-film resume that has such contrasting films as Jonathan Glazer's, whose debut was the profane and kinetic Sexy Beast, but followed up with the lugubrious Birth in 2004. The film didn't make much of a splash except for the notoriety of a scene in which Nicole Kidman shares a bath with a ten-year old boy.

The premise of the film is simple--Kidman is a widow, her husband dead from a heart attack while jogging. Ten years later a little boy shows up claiming to be him, reincarnated. She eventually comes to believe him, much to her family and fiance's consternation. A lot of this plays like a ghost story--the way it is lit, scored and acted. Whenever the kid, who is played with steely focus by Cameron Bright, shows up it's like a ghost sighting.

This all plays more interesting than entertaining. As I watched it I thought it would make a nice short story, but as a film there are definite problems. No matter how skilled the handling, there's just no way you can have Nicole Kidman and a ten-year-old kid talking romance without it being creepy. And if it's nothing but creepy, the film is not successful, because we're supposed to get a sense of eternal love. Kidman does nicely with the role, and Glazer gives her all sorts of opportunity's, including a long close-up as she silently comes to understand that she believes what the boy is saying.

This is not a film for anyone who is sleepy, though. There is a lot of silence in this picture, and hardly anyone raises their voice. Anne Heche, Lauren Bacall and Danny Huston all have supporting roles and are quite good (Huston has the role of the fiance--just how do you react when the woman you may be losing the women you are about to marry to a ten-year-old?)