THE STORY – In Dhaka, Zaineen prepares for her wedding following beauty rituals and family expectations. However, her body reacts in many unexpected ways. Amongst home remedies, social pressures, and haunting visions, the path to marriage becomes a physical and psychological struggle against what is imposed on her.
THE CAST – Zaineen Chowdhury Karim, Rikita Nondine Shimu, Sunerah Binte Kamal, Azmeri Haque, Dameer Khan, Saberi Alam, Shatabdi Wadud & Mohammed Bari
THE TEAM – Rubaiyat Hossain (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 88 Minutes
In the first frames of Rubaiyat Hossain’s feminist fable “The Difficult Bride”, the emerging Bangladesh auteur positions her camera upon the sight of lavish garments. The dresses, beautifully adorned with vibrant colors and hand-stitched patterns, lure its viewer into the tactical and manufactured world of the film’s confused protagonist, Zaineen (Zaineen Chowdhury Karim). Transitioning from the lifelessness of the wardrobe to the artifice of the character’s beautification ritual, Hossain deliberately captures the lavish and graceful salon session with seductive appeal. As we learn more about Zaineen’s lifestyle that mimics the idealism of a wealthy fairy-tale romance, “The Difficult Bride” begins to shatter the young protagonist’s blinded dreams of married life.
Hossain inevitably digs into her protagonist’s self-image, often capturing her quotidian scenes in static compositions that visually imprison the character in her own home. Despite the grandeur of her dating life with her relatively charming, if inconsequential betrothed boyfriend, Zaineen still feels lost amidst the obligations of restrictive dieting culture and the stigmatization that stems from marital tradition. Hyperfixated on her beauty and appearance, her obsession coalesces with the film’s tragic downfall. Hossain’s effective use of diegetic sound evolves into a signifier of rare normalcy for the strained protagonist, utilizing ambiences and silence to directly disorient the viewer.
Disgusted by the sight of her stretch marks and cellulite, Zaineen’s ambitions to reach her high-standard predictably comes at a devastating cost. The film evolves with erratic camera-movement, as Zaineen’s insomnia drives her to the brink of exhaustion. “The Difficult Bride” hits all of the thematic markers you might expect from Hossain’s familiar premise; she directly criticizes patriarchal traditions which normalize and stigmatize the self-image of young women. Despite its admirable thematic explorations, “The Difficult Bride” regrettably doesn’t bring anything new to the table, skimming over its dissections of tradition in favor of a safe and accessible narrative.
Employing genre elements to further punctuate Zaineen’s dissociation with her surroundings, Hossain’s diversion from her realist setup neglects her protagonist’s social backdrop in her screenwriting. Teasing the protagonist with hallucinations, Zaineen bears witness to a mysterious bride who appears at the whims of her collapsing self-image. Hossain effectively leaves room for interpretation regarding the recurring silent character, as her muted presence can be interpreted as a personified embodiment of the protagonist’s ideal body-type. Outside of these sparse moments of magical realism, not much characterization is given to Zaineen. It’s ironic, especially with a film that’s all about one woman’s quest to reclaim her autonomy.
Despite its occasionally clever elements, Hossain doesn’t delve deeper into the cultural context behind her protagonist’s privileged lifestyle, only hinting at the outer world’s decay through social media. In one scene, Zaineen is transfixed by a news report about a student protest that has shaken the nation. The brief news clipping isn’t elaborated upon, as the social unrest of the working class manages to briefly catch the attention of the well-off protagonist. Establishing but never expanding upon the contradictions which sustain the character’s alienating habits, “The Difficult Bride” refuses to critically assess Zaineen’s wealth and its correlation with her self-image. Her political obliviousness is ultimately interlinked with her perceptions of body image, as the character’s obstructed worldview clashes with her desire for superficial perfection.
Instead of delving into the different strands of social and economic pressure that would affect Zaineen’s journey towards self-actualization, Hossain’s milquetoast chronology of events doesn’t aim to challenge its viewer’s worldview or perception of Bangladeshi society. Instead, the film’s digestible formula regurgitates the same ghost story tropes that ultimately sour its compelling premise. “The Difficult Bride” dabbles in hesitant body-horror that never fully actualizes into an interesting film. The casually grotesque images taunt, rather than shock.
While Zaineen Chowdhury Karim’s eponymous performance as the titular bride successfully captures her character’s physicality, the young performer is regrettably not given much to work with outside of the film’s increasingly literal interpretation of events. Where “The Difficult Bride” directly interrogates the customs and traditions from Hossain’s own upbringing, the film’s enticing set-up is undone by its amateur writing. The narrative trajectory is ultimately unrewarding, as the outcome of its plodding character study concludes with an unearned and vapid resolution.
