Birth

"Careful what you wish for."

2004 1h 40m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 794

DramaMystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

It took Anna 10 years to recover from the death of her husband, Sean, but now she's on the verge of marrying her boyfriend, Joseph, and finally moving on. However, on the night of her engagement party, a young boy named Sean turns up, saying he is her dead husband reincarnated. At first she ignores the child, but his knowledge of her former husband's life is uncanny, leading her to believe that he might be telling the truth.

“Careful what you wish for.”

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Cast

Nicole Kidman
Anna
Cameron Bright
Young Sean
Danny Huston
Joseph
Lauren Bacall
Eleanor
Alison Elliott
Laura
Arliss Howard
Bob
Michael Desautels
Sean
Anne Heche
Clara

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Writers: Milo Addica, Jonathan Glazer, Jean-Claude Carrière
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

279+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, shot by Harris Savides. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Claus Wehlisch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Nicole Kidman and Cameron Bright and Danny Huston carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Careful what you wish for.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Glazer directs. Harris Savides behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. Claus Wehlisch cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 22 years ago.
2International production across 3 countries: Germany, United Kingdom, United States of America.
3279+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Jonathan Glazer, shot by Harris Savides. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Claus Wehlisch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Nicole Kidman and Cameron Bright and Danny Huston carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Careful what you wish for.".
9IMDB entry: tt0337876 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 20 themes, including "infidelity", "new york city", "opera", "loss of loved one".
11Released under 23 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Harris Savides
Original score: Alexandre Desplat
Editing: Claus Wehlisch
Production design: Kevin Thompson
Costume design: John Dunn
Makeup / hair: James Sarzotti
VFX supervisor: Tom Debenham
Sound: Paul Hamblin
Stunt coordinator: Peter Bucossi
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $23,900,000
Return: 120% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Birth (2004)

Also by

Jonathan Glazer

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-03-20
★ 8/10
You know I loved Sean so much, and its been so long that I still can't get him out of my system. I remember when it was released in 2004, there was a big hurrah about "the" bath scene, many vitriolic complaints about how slow it was, how not scary it was et al. Birth is many wonderful film making things, of course not all of those things will resonate or enthral many of the movie watching populace, yet there is such craft on both sides of the camera here, and an atmospherically ambiguous bloodline pulsing throughout, that marks it out as a particularly striking film. Plot finds Nicole Kidman as Anna, who is about to be re-married but finds her world tipped upside down when a young boy (Cameron Bright) arrives on the scene and announces he is the reincarnation of her dead first husband... Director Jonathan Glazer and his co-writers Jean-Claude Carrière & Milo Addica are purposely being vague, I mean lets face it, the topic to hand is exactly that, vague, and ripe for countless hours of discussion. The film simmers along deftly, meditations on love, grief and anger are skilfully portrayed by all involved. Even a birthing tunnel metaphor doesn't come off as self indulgent, from the off Glazer wants and gets those interested in the story to buy into the hypnotic qualities on show. To jump on board with Anna's fragility while all around her battle for rhyme or reason with her mindset. In truth it's a hard sell as a piece of entertainment, there's still today, over a decade since it was released, people miffed that the hinted at supernatural elements are not key to the narrative. While the thin line of good and bad taste - and maybe even pretentiousness - is being tested by the makers, but the charges of Birth being dull are just wrong. It never shows its hand, the mystery always remains strong, while Kidman and Lauren Bacall are reason enough to admire the acting craft on show. Hated by many, inducing even anger in some quarters, Birth is a tantalising picture. A conundrum designed to get a response, for better or worse. 8/10

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