"Breasts"

Breasts: A Documentary
-directed by Meema Spadola
1996
Woman or man, if you have any intimate interest in breasts, you must see this film. Filmmaker Meema Spadola interviews twenty-two women aged 6-84, most of them topless, on every aspect of life in which breasts are a part. This film takes you all over the place, emotionally. I had a mildly prurient interest in seeing it, and i didn't think it would make me squeamish, but it did. There's a lesson there. Of the breasts we will see in our lives, at least 90% of them will be in movies. Oops. Hollywood breasts are pre-screened at best, and plastic at worst (except for PERSONAL BEST and DOOR IN THE FLOOR, of course). How this affects women's body images is lain naked (so to speak). There may be moments you might want to look away, but even then you'll be filled with sympathy and admiration. For anyone who would love a woman, and any woman who would love herself, this film will challenge you to be honest, and give you understanding and perspectives it might otherwise take a lifetime to collect. The best bits are the mother/daughter interviews.