The Bra

The Bra is the funniest film I saw at IFFK 2022 at the time of writing. More so because a lot can go wrong in a film like this that often inadvertently tries to enter misogyny territory but never does. You can't predict what's going to happen and that's the charm of the lead character in this silent film that's periodically funny and ultimately poignant. I 100% enjoyed the film like I had never before and it's for that experience I give it a full 10. I'm gonna think about it days and kaybe weeks ahead and would highly recommend my women friends to give it a try so that I can know if the idea of liking the film is mutual.

(Watched at the 2022 International Film Festival of Kerala in Trivandrum.)

Charming little film. It says it's in English which is a bit deceiving. There's actually no dialogue whatsoever in the whole movie. What an accomplishment. It's a sweet tale about a train engineer in the remote area of India (I'm guessing). It shows his daily, boring life, until one day, a woman's bra gets tangled up on the front of the engine. He's then on a quest to return the bra to its rightful owner. Sounds boring, but I thought it was very engaging, in a very subtle sort of way. Just a delightful, well-acted story.

Nurlan drives his train every day through rural Azerbaijan and a suburb of the megacity of Baku. There is so little space in this slum that the residents hang up their clotheslines over the railroad tracks.

During one of these rides, a nice blue bra gets caught on the train from Nurlan. Who in the district is the owner of the laundry? Nurlan sets out on an unusual mission to find the woman and maybe love.

The film by German director Veit Helmer tells the warmhearted story in quiet pictures and without dialogue. A bold cinematic experiment, only visually we follow the Protagonist on his extraordinary quest - experiment succeeded - highly recommended.

Great acting, beautiful shots, awesome music and most of all, an interesting story said without speaking a word. Definitely for the more intelligent viewers.

This is probably the quirkiest movie I've seen in over a decade or two. For one the movie has no dialogue from start to finish. And two, the movie revolves around a bra. Accept that simple story line and you will find this movie interesting. I think it's what got me to watch it all the way, to see how the story evolves.

But even without any dialogue, the actors where able to convey their intentions well and the movie articulate the story through acting and great direction. I mean, you fully understood what was happening. No need for complex explanation - it's all simple. And the whole thing surprisingly works extremely well.

A good way to summarise the type of story this is, is... it's a different take on the Cinderella story. Just using a bra instead of a glass sleeper.

Give it a go, you might get some amusement from it - just like I surprisingly did.