10 Aug '11

“This cruelly open-eyed film erred only by a patronising opening voiceover done in the style of a Disney nature film, mockingly celebrating a “rite of spring”.”
Andrew Billen, The Times                     

“”Babes”, with its sexual connotations, was the right word for the title, capturing the premature sexualisation of these poor souls, and though there was great drama in their silly little careers, there was sadness too. This was a true story that I wish wasn’t true, a circus devoid of skill and beauty, and a marvellous exhibition of how not to raise your children.”
Amol Rajan, The Independent     

“It was still two compulsively watchable hours: a modern day horror show set in the Oakdown apartment block in Los Angeles where parents come from all over the US for the three-month TV pilot season to spend about $5,000 a week on seeing their children humiliated by one rejection after another.”
John Crace, The Guardian 

“The truly surprising thing about the circus, which was where the programme’s diligent research paid off, is the way it seems continually to be dying and being reborn.”
Matt Baylis, The Express                     

“Lost worlds always induce sadness, but it did rather rub up against the essential fact that circuses are fun (if also dangerous) places, and I wish that our able producers had injected a bit of joy to relieve the gloom.”
Amol Rajan, The Independent        

“Despite going on to trace the history of the circus from Philip Astley’s Amphitheatre in 1773 to the global hegemony of the Cirque du Soleil, the film never really felt as if it left the 50s.”
John Crace, The Guardian                            

“The problem is, when things slow down, you’ve got more time to wonder whether things really make sense.”
Matt Baylis, The Express