Birth
Jonathan Glazer · 2004
Jonathan Glazer’s 2004 film Birth follows Anna, a woman who becomes convinced that her deceased husband has been reborn in a ten-year-old boy. Shot in New York with Haris Savides, scored by Alexandre Desplat, and anchored by Nicole Kidman’s restrained performance, it is a psychological mystery that sustains ambiguity as principle. It does not confirm or deny the boy’s claim, instead focusing on the weight of Anna’s belief, the erosion of shared reality among those around her, and the quiet devastation of love that refuses to expire. Polarising on release, it has since gained recognition for its formal rigour and emotional precision.
