The Bra(2020)

• Title: The bra 
• Director: Veit Helmer 
• Release Date: Oct 4, 2020
• Genre: Comedy/Drama
•  Duration 1h 30m
•  Music: Cyril Morin 
• Cinematography: Felix Leiberg

Nulan, a train driver nearing his retirement is a solitary man. He drives his large electrical locomotive through the congested town of rural Azerbaijan, which treats the tracks as their courtyard for hanging clothes to dry, ensemble to play caroms, or even sometimes cook. When the signal drops red, a ten-year-old boy emerges from his tiny kennel-turned-home and runs through the tracks to alert the townspeople. Often in the commotion of this routined displacing, things get stuck in the train. Nulan can be seen retrieving such things from the grappling hook of the train, returning them to the lost owners, and deriving gaiety through this kind act. One night he catches a glance of a woman removing her white-laced blue bra through the moving train and is hooked to this sight. He is reminded of his lack of companionship in his aging life. The next day on cleaning the train after his usual jamming through the congested town, he finds the same white-laced blue bra. He doesn’t know the owner to return.

Upon his retirement, he embarks on the journey to find its owner like the prince from the tale of Cinderella, to find the woman with the right cup size! The movie hilariously shows this adventure which often lands Nulan in intimate positions with strange women. The little boy from the town joins this mission and makes it much more interesting. Towards the end, Nulan is revealed to be diametrically opposite to Prince Charming from Cinderella. His sole intention was to return the bra, an extension of his earlier act of kindness. Not Cinderella, but the little boy, who was thrown out of his shelter home by the acts of their bra-owner-hunting adventure, ends up being his companion to break his terminal solitude. 

The movie, without dialogues, rises above languages and reminds us of the futility of the languages that often divide us through a rich tapestry of sounds of nature, music, and machines. The feast of visuals and music compensates for the lack of verbal exchanges. The character of Denis Lavant through his elaborate machine-aided music and added light-heartedness through humming songs while working prompts us to enjoy life in a simpler manner. The movie uses subdued colors to stage the harmony and delicacy of the mesmerizing town and blends lingering sadness in its visuals despite its comedy genre. The movie becomes a universal rooted in its naivety, innocence, and unprejudiced glance through subtle dichotomies, revealed truths, and relevant encounters.

The bra or brassieres are a titular item of women’s clothing. Women’s choice of wearing a bra stems consciously and unconsciously from social perceptions. Given a choice, I wonder if most women would wear a bra. Breast sagging, the prominent reason listed for selling the bras is built on the mistaken belief that breasts cannot automatically support themselves. It was one of the feminine products that were thrown out in the “Freedom Trash Can” in the feminist movement of the 1960s accusing it as an “instrument of female torture” and an accouterment of enforced feminity. The movie with its blatant title ‘The Bra’ brings into the mainstream the strong notions against sexualizing and objectifying women. From obscenity and vulgarity, the bra is employed as a tool to break the male glance and voyeuristic desire. The visuals in the movie are majestically artistic to overpower nudity and uncover the inner worlds of women with depth and a little poetry. The images are simple, honest, and magical. 

Happy to note an often shushed or whispered word “Bra”, was spoken aloud and unabashed by the audience of the movie, which presented an absurdist scenario with visual felicity and ingenuity. Thus the movie stands out as a gem with its loud satire, strong political statement, and immense fun, packed with feel-good nature and mesmerizing visuals.