Bird's Eye View

Bring a baby to Junior

Tamsyn

Tamsyn Dent, BEV’s Development and Outreach Manager (and new Mum!) reviews our 2010 Bring a Baby Film Junior, about a parent-child relationship - a generation on. According to Time Out, Junior is “Beautifully observed… a soulful movie about the importance of family” Read on to see what Tam had to say…

Junior is screening at 11am on March 5th at the Ritzy in Brixton for the Bring a Baby screening - you can also catch it that evening at the Ritzy at 6pm and at the ICA on Saturday March 6th and Monday March 8th.

As a new mum and film lover my favourite new activity is checking out the ‘parent and baby’ film screenings at London’s various independent  cinemas . So far we’ve been to the Rio in Dalston, the Rich Mix in Shoreditch and the Lexi in Kilburn, and little Freddy is only 10 weeks old! At first I had some misgivings of taking a newborn to films like Audiard’s ‘A Prophet’ feeling it was perhaps a bit wrong to subject one so young to such violence but Freddy happily fed and then slept through the entire 2 hours and 40 mins and so far it hasn’t seemed to do any lasting damage to him.

Eddie Belasco with his 98-year old Ma, Josephine

You needn’t have any misgivings about the selected  Bring A Baby film at this year’s Birds Eye Film Festival though. Jenna Rosher’s fantastic documentary Junior is a delightful portrayal of the enduring relationship between a mother and son and at 77 minutes is a perfect length to watch with a little one. It follows 78 year old Eddie Belasco, “Junior” and his Ma, Josephine as they squabble and muddle through their different stages of old age together in their San Francisco home. Eddie is a lovable rogue; loud, abrupt, somewhat risqué yet passionate about his work in theatre and clearly devoted to his stoical and formidable mother Jospehine. This film made me laugh out loud - both Eddie and Josephine are hilarious characters who spend half the film yelling at each other, a combination of their ailing hearing and passionate natures, and yet clearly have a profound respect and affection for the other. There are some priceless moments - check out the scene when Eddie is prescribed marijuana for “medical purposes” and his canny manipulation of the media in order to make his Ma a celebrity when she gets her high school diploma aged 98. Despite the laughter, the film is an insightful portrayal of old age and the inevitable pain and loss that comes with it. Watching ‘Junior’ made me look at my little one and hope that we will have as tight a relationship in 78 years time!

Director of Junior, Jenna Rosher

Going out to see interesting independent films is a fantastic way to break up the daily routine of looking after a newborn. Don’t get me wrong,  I love being a mummy but as another new mum said to me after a recent screening  ” it’s nice to have something to talk about other than sleep patterns and nappies! “  Going to the cinema makes me feel that I am still part of the adult world”.

Junior will be screening at the  Ritzy  cinema in Brixton as part of the Birds Eye View Film Festival on Friday the 5th March at 11am. It’s a great opportunity to all you new mums and dads to see a rare and insightful portrayal of a mother / son bond.