Review of Birth (1984) by Stuart K — 30 Dec 2012

Directed by Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast (2000)), this was an original idea Glazer had, which he saw as a fairy tale early on, but after developing the script with French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)), it became a dark and unsettling drama, but it has some good performances, with a story that questions the beliefs of re-incarnation.

Anna (Nicole Kidman) and Sean (Michael Desautels) are a happily married couple, but then Sean collapses and dies while out jogging, 10 years later, Anna has accepted a proposal to marry Joseph (Danny Huston), and at a party celebrating the birthday of Anna's mother Eleanor (Lauren Bacall), they see a boy (Cameron Bright), who they thought was a guest at the party, who is claiming to be the reincarnation of Sean.

At first, Anna doesn't believe him, but "Sean" gives enough evidence to convince Anna otherwise. But Joseph begins to suspect that this isn't as straight forward as it looks. It has a European feel about it, and it's well filmed with some good performances, but it gets a bit confused towards the end.

But, this is a ghost story without touching upon the supernatural.