Bruised: A new perspective on women’s bodies
***Potential spoiler alert***
Halle Berry’s directorial debut received mixed reviews. Berry’s directing and acting were praised, while the screenplay was criticized. The story does not add anything new to the genre — I have read. This statement is not entirely fair, in my opinion.
First, some may say that sports dramas are fine as they are and don’t need anything “new”. A major reason why sports dramas are loved is that they showcase some sort of revenge against life’s difficulties. From this perspective, Bruised does its expected job. As a fan of the genre myself, I see nothing wrong with this result.
Second, the movie does add something to the genre. Bruised depicts women’s bodies in an intriguingly new and refreshing light. This aspect is surprisingly underestimated in the reviews I have read so far. To illustrate, I’ll emphasize three scenes after a brief movie recap.
MOVIE RECAP
Four years after running away in the middle of a professional fight, former UFC fighter Jackie “Pretty Bull” Justice lives with her boyfriend and manager, Desi, a mediocre and enraged man. She works as a housecleaner, shows all signs of depression, and drinks behind closed doors.
One night, Desi brings Jackie to an illegal fight. Provoked, Jackie pounds down to unconsciousness the Werewolf, the seemingly unbeatable queen of the night.
This unexpected expression of Jackie’s supposedly lost fighting abilities catches the attention of Immaculate, a local MMA female league promoter. Immaculate offers Jackie the opportunity to train with his best trainer Bobbi “Buddhakan” Berroa, to return to the professional ring.
On the same night, Jackie’s somewhat mentally ill mother shows up, leaving at Jackie’s home the child she abandoned a few years back with her former partner and child’s father, now dead. Jackie goes to Buddhakan’s gym the following day to start her training.
SCENE 1 — When the Werewolf is put to sleep
The fight between Jackie and the Werewolf lasts a handful of seconds — BUT IT IS BRUTAL.
In the first few moments, Jackie seems in a hard spot due to the evident physical superiority of her opponent. Then, with the agility of a cat, she suddenly jumps on the other woman, pins her down, and repeatedly headbutts her with a violence that made me cringe.
Literally, she keeps going again and again and only stops way after the Werewolf has passed out. No signs of fear, apology, or remorse on Jackie’s face.
However rare in the mainstream movie industry, such raw violence is even more atypical for portraying women’s bodies. I really did not see that coming. Bruised scores its first point to get my attention.
SCENE 2 — And then there was romance
To clarify, Jackie’s trainer Buddhakan is a woman. This element is already unexpected for the movie industry. Jackie herself hints at this gender expectation as soon as she meets her new trainer. You are a woman — she says with a pinch of surprise.
Sheila Atim delivers an excellent and solid performance as Buddhakan throughout the movie. Another aspect that is not sufficiently emphasized in the movie’s reviews.
Starting disillusioned about Jackie’s fighting abilities, Buddhakan progressively becomes impressed by Jackie’s tenacity, grows into a caretaker for her and her child, and finally falls in love with the athlete.
The scene where Buddhakan and Jackie have sex is almost breathtaking. The sensuality of the two female bodies giving pleasure to each other is unapologetic. In the mainstream movie industry, such a shameless sensuality is much more typical of heterosexual encounters.
Brokeback Mountain offered a similar unfiltered sensuality for men’s bodies, although secrecy was intrinsic to the story in that case. The only other example I can think of for women’s bodies is a couple of scenes in the Swedish-Danish Millenium Trilogy, which however, do not compare for length or intensity.
Another scored point for Bruised.
SCENE 3 — The final fight
As canonical as it may seem at first, the final fight is the best expression of Berry’s directorial abilities.
I have watched many fighting movies in the past. None of them made me feel so present on the ring as Bruised. The fight jumped at me with realism and pathos: I was there, I smelled it, I got hurt.
The camera closely insists on the two fighters all the time. Nothing else but the fight exists. The crowd has disappeared. The title belt doesn’t matter anymore. Even Jackie’s personal drama is suddenly out of the picture. Only flesh, blood, and sweat — that’s all there is. Not two women but two obstinate and desperate fighters.
Such a flash-and-blood portrayal is intriguing and rare compared to the common objectification of women’s bodies in the movie industry and society. Third point scored.
— — —
Why were these aspects underestimated? Various reasons are possible.
One possibility is that Jackie does not fit canonical sport drama characters. For one, she is a mother who abandoned her child, a great taboo. She is depicted as a coward who hides from difficulties with alcohol and the unhealthy romance with Desi. This contrasts with a more typical representation of heroes finding themselves in bad waters due to life circumstances and not their weaknesses. She is also not particularly excited or grateful about being mentored. All this makes it hard to empathize with her human fragility — almost a must in sports dramas.
However, another interesting possibility may be that Berry’s overall narrative tone was more subtle than the usual emotional show-off of sports dramas. Perhaps this aspect could be considered relatively new to the genre, although it vaguely reminds of Warrior’s somewhat similar stylistic choice.
Unlike Warrior, however, Bruised’s emotional climax does not peak at its maximum in the final match for the title. The final fight is hard, suffered, and Justice’s good moves during the match don’t culminate in an epic win. I can see how some viewers could feel betrayed.
However, Berry’s seems more like a conscious stylistic choice than an accident as it is consistent with the overall narrative tone and goal. Life is hard, and winning one personal battle doesn’t solve it all. How true!
Where are men in this movie? Almost non-existent. A few brief appearances remind us that they hold power over Jackie’s career (Immaculate), irrationally use their physical superiority to beat her up when displeased (Desi), and can at best be likable grandfathers when experienced and wise (Jackie’s other trainer Pops).
Again, these are conscious stylistic decisions that are coherent with the goal of portraying a realistic life drama centered on the main character’s perspective.
In particular, the scene where Desi beats Jackie up in a sudden expression of rage reminds us that being a (flyweight) MMA champion does not necessarily spare a woman from domestic violence. This may be another disappointing but sadly realistic aspect of the movie. And I appreciated the honesty, for once.
In sum, Bruised is an honest, elegant, and effective character-centered sports drama. Berry offers a new and unapologetic perspective on women’s bodies with no courtesy filters. It is a movie that may be easily underestimated at first watch, but that impresses a long-standing vision.
I hope to see more of this vision in the future.
Written in September 2022
