Casa de los Babys

John Sayles’ empathic testament to six women travelling
to a Latin-American country in search of babies to adopt.
They all come from different backgrounds, with their own
personal motives for wanting children. While waiting on the
red tape of the local authorities, they tan on the beach, dine
at the hotel restaurant or go shopping and, so, they gain time
to mutually come to terms with their decisions, valuing each
other in reference to ideas of motherhood and weaving a
tapestry of emotional disappointment.

The cast is on fire – doing wonders with Sayles’ screenplay:
from the persistently pushy Marcia Gay Harden to
Sayles’ veteran, Vanessa Martinez, as a local housekeeper.
The focus on maternity and womanhood is poignant in its
attention to small details but offers a stark contrast with the
larger perspective of imperialist values. Specifically, this is
shown in the beautiful dialogue between Susan Lynch and
Martinez where their inability to understand one another
is weighed against the personal tragedy of their differing
national perspectives. And Sayles offers a complex look at
adoption – both in its emotional equivalence to birth and in
the shadow cast by a system which places a market value
on children.

Johan Lindqvist