Birth (2004)

How do you announce a film that deals with the subject of reincarnation? To be more precise: with the subject of a woman who is confronted with a boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her dead husband, with a straight face? That was the dilemma I was faced with last week at my weekly speech at the art house cinema. I had a hard time not giggling when describing a plot that ridiculous. Birth, starring Nicole Kidman, is utterly unconvincing and that may be the reason it caused quite a controversy in the US and that’s why I HAD to see it…

Anne is a woman in her thirties on the verge of getting married for the second time, ten years after her previous husband, Sean, passed away. At her mother’s birthday party, a ten-year-old boy shows up claiming to be her dead husband Sean. At first, Anne is repulsed by the idea of the young boy being her husband, but gradually she becomes convinced he is. Slowly, she starts to fall in love with the boy, despite the negative response from the family.

The main question that arises is what the hell a good actress like Kidman was thinking when she read the script. There is no way she could have envisioned such a preposterous plot brought to the screen in a convincing way. The problem is, it would be unfair to point the finger at Kidman. She does the best she possibly can to deliver a lifelike performance. As a viewer, you have a lot to endure during the hundred minutes this anomaly takes to unfold, ranging from Anne taking a bath with the child, to her suggesting to run away with him and wait until he turns 21 so the two of them can get married.

The idea of reincarnation combined with the thriller genre is not totally despicable, it is just that there is no way the love between a child and a grown-up woman can be the reason to keep you glued to your seat. Even if you set aside the whole idea of the love between the protagonists, Birth never gets even close to exciting. The acting (aside from Kidman) is dull, but that is mainly caused by the screenplay, rather than the actors’ skills.

Birth has difficulty choosing between being a thriller or a (pre)marital drama. There is huge pressure on Anne toward her fiancé (played by Danny Huston) and her family (led by a rather uninspired Lauren Bacall who plays Anne’s mother), that are not fully spun out and remain rather weakly dealt with. The story introduction (rapidly depicting Sean’s death) is weak and way too short and so is the character introduction. The set decoration, score (although at times somewhat bombastic) and photography are appealing, turning Birth into a missed opportunity.

Directed by: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Danny Huston, Cameron Bright, Lauren Bacall
Runtime: 100’
Release Dates: US: 29 October, UK: 5 November, The Netherlands: 17 February
Official Website

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