Birth

Movie: Birth. I wasn’t sure I would be able to blog this morning because my cat decided to take a snooze while draped over half the computer keyboard. At one point during her nap, she typed out the word “Poo” and I couldn’t help wondering if that was her succinct review of the movie. The reincarnation theme was probably supposed to be controversial or thought provoking, but it’s actually common for children to remember “past lives.” Since I don’t believe in reincarnation (not in this life, anyway), I’m more inclined to see this as tapping into what Carl Jung termed the Collective Unconscious. Sort of a universal memory spanning time and space. If this film contained any such insights or “sub-sonic nuances,” I missed them. The minimalistic dialogue and acting made the characters seem emotionless and mind numbingly dull. Mime troupes are more exciting. And five minute close ups of a face are not slow, they are stopped. Whoever convinced Nicole Kidman to go with the pixie look should never be allowed to work in the film industry ever again. The hairstyle and colour were not right for her face and made her look downright ugly. Poo is right, kitty. The wacky Anne Heche as the girlfriend was the only one who seemed to understand that this should have been filmed as a thriller. Her character is lively and intriguing and deserves her own movie. On the upside, I thought I saw Lauren Bacall.