Educational Media Reviews Online

Whether celebrated for form or function, breasts evoke all that is womanly. Cathryn Roberston's film features women of all ages talking about their breasts and what breasts have meant to them throughout their lives. Against a stark white back-drop, women boldly open their mouths (and sometimes their blouses) to reveal naked truths about breasts. Women who lost breasts to cancer share feelings of sadness, fear, and loss, and some show their scars, prostheses, and results of reconstructive surgery.

In Working Breasts, a young small-breasted exotic dancer titters about loving the way she pleases her audience by moving her body. In a short called Solo a woman describes losing a breast to cancer, and how the reconstructed breast feels “like a piece of steak” sewn onto her chest. She gazes into the camera and says, “I miss her.” A group of older women on a golf course take a break to talk about their perceptions of breasts through puberty, motherhood, and in some cases, cancer.

The film offers an interesting blend of joy, sadness, humor, and hope with the sections featuring candid talk about the sensuality and utility of breasts mixed with other vignettes, more “artsy” in tone, such as Crisis which includes whispered words rising into an agitated crescendo, and one called Lovers with discreet shots of a nude couple embracing.

Recommended for adult audiences, particularly for breast cancer patients and survivors, their families, and caregivers.