First things first, director Meema Spadola's 50-minute documentary entitled "Breasts" presents the subject matter in a light that is neither erotic nor pornographic. Okay, there is a black & white excerpt from a cartoon where a guy licks and sucks on a breast and when he withdraws his affection and the nipple curls up seductively like a beckoning fingers and wiggles to lure him back for more. Otherwise, this is a no-frills documentary about twenty-two women discussing their breasts. Second, this is also a lightweight documentary that consists primarily of women either bare breasted or covered up who talk about their boobs. Spadola examines breasts from many perspectives, including both power and pleasure. Interspersed among these candid conversations about breasts, breast size, and the reduction or elimination of breasts are cartoons and commercials.The women vary in age and size, ranging from the flat-chested variety to the obese. One woman discusses having the lack of breasts and how her husband said it didn't bother him, but she knew that he was lying. This woman missed her breasts, because they had to be removed, and contends that having no breasts affected sex between her partner and her. At the outset, the women provide all the synoymons for breasts: boobs, tits, titties, knockers, balls of ice cream, baby bottles, etc. According to these women, men are fascinated with big breasts because they symbolize motherhood. One woman talks about her feelings after she lost one breast to cancer and Spadola shows her torso with one large breast and a smooth white area where the other breast was once located. We're told that silicone implants were hastily put into place for the money, but that these implants later created problems for women. Eventually, in 1992, silicone implants were no longer put into women's breasts. Mind you, we see all kinds of breasts, a few are gorgeous, but most are average, with big nipples, small nipples, etc. One woman talks about how her husband told her not to show her entire breast because he considered it an invasion of his privacy. In other words, his wife's breasts belonged to him as much as her and he did not want to share this privacy with outsiders.This is a mildly interesting but overall disposable look at breasts. The women who sought breast reductions point out how their doctors changed the size of their breasts. Women nursing children said that their breasts made them feel better about themselves. Indeed, some of the women in the documentary, especially the huge woman should never have taken her top off, but presumably this is what makes "Breasts" a liberating experience. Again, if you've got beer and pizza and figure that you're going to get aroused by what Meema Spadola shows in this lightweight documentary, think again. Ultimately, men who watch this documentary will definitely come away from it with a better understanding not only of the power of breasts, but also they will learn more about breasts.

Let's get this out of the way, so the ones checking out this page looking for info on anything related to the word "Breasts" (and you know who you are, googlers) can move along: this is not in any way pornographic. On the contrary, if this has any value as masturbation material then, frankly, the filmmaker didn't do a good job since the aim is to keep it on subject and on the experiences of women and their bodies and images of themselves and society and health and so on. Indeed, I would be a little circumspect of one who came across this on DVD or, if it ever plays again, late night on HBO or Cinemax and used it as a means for pleasure. You might as well go to the supermarket and pick up a pair of ripe melons and take them home and squeeze them and uh, well, you get the idea.No, this is semi-serious film-making meant for premium late-night viewing, but it shouldn't have to be just for the late-night types. This is intimate in setting but not in tone. All of the women, in all their variety of shapes and sizes, and races, and even with one man thrown in with fake breasts, have something of value to say, from life experience in the most straightforward way. If I say semi-serious it's due to the several little segments that the director feels she needs to throw in, with the archival footage of old "how-to" videos about puberty and sex and breasts and super-rare cartoons with the knockers flying about. This isn't a problem but an asset: we need a few little visual seg-ways to go between these interviews.Nothing is held back, and we see it as feminism in a liberating form: they don't need to cover up, and even if they choose not to take their tops and shirts and bras off they're still open as can be about a natural part of their body that is an object of sex, surprise, comfort, discomfort, curiosity, motherhood, and, sadly, cancer. In that last part, there's another brave step taken as we see a woman who survived her cancer with only one breast. You know you've become mature and an adult when you can see this woman who has somehow gone on to live a semi-normal life with one breast (the most bittersweet moment is when she says if a fairy godmother said she could have one wish to have two full breasts she would have to think about it), and you don't snicker or go "eww, gross." That's the test, folks.It's not shot under the best of circumstances, but then again for TV it's edited with a tight pace. It's never dull for a moment, and we never feel like anyone is holding back, especially when a man might hear the hard truth like that breasts may not really be erogenous, or that a flat chest is very attractive to some men. Breasts: A Documentary is about deconstructing myths with real faces and breasts and minds and hearts laid bare. If that's worthy of a "I was alone" session, then, well, more power to you, I guess, though it's not the intention.

The hour-long documentary Breasts directed by Meema Spadola (who also made a film called Private Dicks: Men Exposed) is a great resource for open dialogue about female bodies, specifically, breasts. Composed of a range of viewpoints--large and small, young and old--the film allows the women to talk about how they feel about their upper bodies and how breasts affect their interactions with the world. Although I am not sure I learned much from watching the film, it was refreshing to hear other opinions on breasts.I watched the movie with a male friend of mine who I assumed wouldn't enjoy the film much, but afterward we talked a little bit about his experiences. The film was a good jumping off point for the two of us to discuss other body issues that women have and initiated a few questions about breasts and how women might feel about them. He thought, though, there could have been a larger diversity of breasts and viewpoints and that by limiting the film to 22 voices, many of whom are only shown in specific segments, there were a lot of perspectives excluded.I thought the film attempted to show women from various walks of life, but it is true that many of my own feelings about breasts were not echoed in what the women on-screen were saying. I did particularly enjoy the mother-daughter pairs who appeared together and discussed not only their own bodies but their feelings about each other's bodies. I think these scenes revealed a lot about how women feel about the bodies of those around them. I also particularly enjoyed the historic clips that were interspersed throughout the interviews because they did a lot to show different ways in which breasts have been depicted over time as well as kept the tone of the film lively.One issue I did have is that the film raised the question of the power of breasts, something my male friend immediately picked up on and was joking about, without doing much to provide an answer. None of the women really were able to describe the power of having breasts in a clear manner. Instead, it came off as a vague and questionable notion. I would have liked to have seen a few more academic and scientific voices in the mix that could have possibly explained things like biological reasons for the power of breasts and sociological and psychological points of interest. However, as a film that provides a frank glance at what some women think about their breasts, I thought this film was worth seeing. Only an hour long, it easily held my attention and I was disappointed when it was over.Even though many women assume that they are the target audience, I think this film is particularly appropriate for men. It allows them an opportunity to see women's bodies through the eyes of the women they belong to and to understand a little about what breasts mean to those of us who have them. I also thought the film would be an excellent resource for women with questions about body image who might need some reassurance that the way they feel about their breasts is completely normal.

This is a wonderful look, you should pardon the pun, at 22 women talking about breasts-- theirs, their mothers', other women's, and how they affect so many aspects of their lives. Young girls, old women, and everyone in between (with all shapes, sizes, configurations, etc) talk about developing, reacting, celebrating, hiding, enhancing, or reducing their breasts.It's charming, delightful, sad, funny, and everything in between. Intercut with documentary footage and clips from those famous old "young women's films" that the girls got taken to the cafeteria to see, the interviews are a fascinating window for men who love women & their breasts into what the other half has to say when they don't know you're listening.