Birth

Glazer’s underrated metaphysical masterpiece—co-written by Jean-Claude Carrière and shot by Harris Savides—ranks among the most glorious head-scratchers of American cinema this century. Nicole Kidman stars as Anna, a Manhattan widow on the verge of remarrying Joseph (Danny Huston). But when a mysterious young boy (Cameron Bright) shows up out of nowhere claiming to be the reincarnation of Anna’s deceased husband, the film leaps into a gripping investigation of the uncanny, the possibility of miracles, and love’s refusal to die alongside the flesh. Steadicam—operated by Garrett Brown—is used in Birth to startling effect as Central Park is transformed into a haunted space where death and rebirth are one and the same.