Oddly titled 'Fat Girl' for international release, the ambiguity of the original French title of this Catherine Breillat movie is quite important as the film is equally about two sisters: one conventionally pretty and the other slightly overweight. Roxane Mesquida and Anaïs Reboux share excellent chemistry in the respective roles as a family vacation affords them a chance to indulge in their emerging sexual appetites. At times, the girls are highly competitive with Mesquida expressing contempt for the younger Reboux to look cool in front of an Italian law student they befriend; at other times though, the sisters laugh together and share intimate secrets like lifelong best friends. Some have been critical of the explicit sexual scenes here, however, Breillat keeps them minimal and a distance; indeed, in the moments when Mesquida is intimate with her newfound boyfriend, we hear everything but see nearly nothing as the camera focuses on Reboux's face, pretending to be asleep in the hotel room she shares with her sister. If there is something to hold against the film, it is the meandering second half with a lot of lengthy drives taking up much of the screen time with tension evaporating once Mesquida has gone all the way. An unexpected plot turn in the final ten minutes of the film does, however, ensure that the movie ends on a thought-provoking (if not necessarily satisfying) final note.
103 Reviews
Better than expected tale of adolescent sexuality
craigboney11 March 2002
Directed by the 'controversial' Catherine Breillat (she showed a hard-on in her last movie, 'Romance'), the story revolves around a family on holiday with two adolescent sisters, the chubby 13 year old Anaïs (played by Anaïs Reboux) and the rather more svelte Elena (Roxane Mesquida) who is two years her senior, although rather less mature. Both girls are still virgins, although Elena is clearly aware of the power of her beauty over the opposite sex. Effortlessly she pulls Italian law student Fernando (Libero De Rienzo, with whom she begins an intense relationship. Fernando talks of love, but is obviously keen for sex. Poor Anaïs is unfortunately sharing a room with the pair as they fumble towards a deflowering. Indeed, this is one of the most beguiling scenes in the movie; you feel awkward bearing witness to what is going on - the constant demands of Fernando for 'a demonstration of love', which after refusals brings forth the sorts of coercing phrases regarding anal sex that so many girls must dread to hear.
The animosity is often intense between the sisters, Anaïs' bitterness towards her sister combined with a resigned maturity that only rejection and frustration can breed. But at the same time there are wonderful scenes of the two sharing sisterly moments; albeit with bile never far away. The point is well made, the bond is there, no matter how much of a bitch Elena can be. Anaïs is such a lost, sad character; the melancholic beauty of one scene on the beach where she is singing to herself whilst Elena and Fernando 'make out' is incredible. Also well portrayed is the relationship with the parents. Mother is very much like Elena; Father is a workaholic who hates holidays and returns home before the others. Although the parents are mostly secondary in the story, you sense that they tend to reinforce Anaïs insecurities and knock her down further. This is exemplified in the scene the morning after the first Elena & Fernando night together. Anaïs is clearly really low, crying and choked. Her parents offer zero warmth, the only solace coming from a still caustic Elena shoving bread into her mouth to comfort her.
The story climaxes as the sisters and their mother return home from their holiday, after a gloriously comic scene where Fernando's mother (Laura Betti) visits to reclaim a precious ring that he had given to Elena as an engagement ring. The journey toward home is fantastically shot; the claustrophobia of motorway driving - especially since the mother doesn't like driving, and is pretty p****d at Elena's antics and Anaïs' miserableness - metaphoring the unease between the three, even more so as night wears on and mother becomes more wary of the huge dangerous lorries that she overtakes incautiously on the freeway. If I was an absolute ponce (or totally fearless), I would say these trucks are a metaphor for the male predatory sexuality against the tiny feminine car (which still manages to nimbly overtake at will most of the time). But I'm not (?), so I won't. Anyway, the ending comes as a huge shock. So I'm not going to tell you it. But safe to say you don't leave the cinema with a laugh and a giggle.
Overall, I was actually surprised by how deep this story was; there was only one gratuitous erection, and even that was covered by a condom. A brave attempt to analyse adolescent female sexuality, often leaving an unplesant taste in the mouth, but well worth a go if you're in the mood.
The animosity is often intense between the sisters, Anaïs' bitterness towards her sister combined with a resigned maturity that only rejection and frustration can breed. But at the same time there are wonderful scenes of the two sharing sisterly moments; albeit with bile never far away. The point is well made, the bond is there, no matter how much of a bitch Elena can be. Anaïs is such a lost, sad character; the melancholic beauty of one scene on the beach where she is singing to herself whilst Elena and Fernando 'make out' is incredible. Also well portrayed is the relationship with the parents. Mother is very much like Elena; Father is a workaholic who hates holidays and returns home before the others. Although the parents are mostly secondary in the story, you sense that they tend to reinforce Anaïs insecurities and knock her down further. This is exemplified in the scene the morning after the first Elena & Fernando night together. Anaïs is clearly really low, crying and choked. Her parents offer zero warmth, the only solace coming from a still caustic Elena shoving bread into her mouth to comfort her.
The story climaxes as the sisters and their mother return home from their holiday, after a gloriously comic scene where Fernando's mother (Laura Betti) visits to reclaim a precious ring that he had given to Elena as an engagement ring. The journey toward home is fantastically shot; the claustrophobia of motorway driving - especially since the mother doesn't like driving, and is pretty p****d at Elena's antics and Anaïs' miserableness - metaphoring the unease between the three, even more so as night wears on and mother becomes more wary of the huge dangerous lorries that she overtakes incautiously on the freeway. If I was an absolute ponce (or totally fearless), I would say these trucks are a metaphor for the male predatory sexuality against the tiny feminine car (which still manages to nimbly overtake at will most of the time). But I'm not (?), so I won't. Anyway, the ending comes as a huge shock. So I'm not going to tell you it. But safe to say you don't leave the cinema with a laugh and a giggle.
Overall, I was actually surprised by how deep this story was; there was only one gratuitous erection, and even that was covered by a condom. A brave attempt to analyse adolescent female sexuality, often leaving an unplesant taste in the mouth, but well worth a go if you're in the mood.
interpretation: excellent theme, lackluster presentation
bedazzle22 February 2002
Warning: Spoilers
spoilers, interpretation:
I really like the ideas behind this movie. First of all there is the traditional view of virginity as sacred. When the guy is trying to have sex with this underage girl in the beginning, we're supposed to feel horrified that she is falling for his obvious lies. No! your virginity is too important! Don't do it! Personally I felt that a bit too much time was spent on this seduction because I'm more inclined towards the modern view that sex is just physical interaction. Luckily, fat girl realizes this. There is nothing sacred about sex itself, it's the emotional bonds related that are important. Hence fat girl realizes there is no substantial difference between anal sex and vaginal sex. Saving yourself, your virginity, by simply having anal sex is just absurd. So fat girl is not going to save her vagina for someone she loves, but her emotional attachment. Skinny girl's anal sex is equated to fat girl's "rape." Both are seen as pseudo-sexuality that must be gone through in order to reach true loving sexuality. Skinny girl may have reached this true sexuality in the future, but abstaining from vaginal sex does nothing to promote this. Fat girl has to lose her virginity in order to reach authentic sex because as a virgin guys cannot get past objectivitifying her as a thing to be conquered. Only after can she have true sex. Skinny girl thinks that anal sex "doesn't count" but really it's the first sexual encounter that doesn't count. So when fat girl embraces her raper and then denies that it was rape, she is personifying this idea. The rape fit in perfectly and was an excellent ending.
So the idea is great, it's just the presentation that gets in the way. The skinny/fat juxtaposition is nice. The literal comparison highlights the sexual differences: Skinny girl's religious views of sex and Fat girl's secular views. So it works when we see so much effort put into stealing Skinny's girls virginity. She is building up the purity of sex for Fat girl to destroy it in the end. Overall I think that the building up is just too drawn out. It takes three fourths of the movie and just gets old. Besides the scene when Fat girl kisses poles in the pool and singing her prophetic songs, there isn't much creativity. There's not much to give interest to the underlying ideas.
Another problem is the Hollywood murder ending. There is no real reason for killing off mother and sister. This was done to put Fat girl in the position to get raped. A more fitting ending would have been for her to sneak out when mother and sister are asleep in order to investigate this trucker. It works because prior when the truck drove by and she saw all the sex items in the window her curiosity was aroused. She should then have gone out and still gotten "raped." This way we stick to the main themes and discard the superfluous melodrama.
So besides a few problems in plot, this was a good movie thematically. It's just the lackluster presentation that made me give it a six. I don't plan on ever seeing this movie again, though I had fun interpreting it.
I really like the ideas behind this movie. First of all there is the traditional view of virginity as sacred. When the guy is trying to have sex with this underage girl in the beginning, we're supposed to feel horrified that she is falling for his obvious lies. No! your virginity is too important! Don't do it! Personally I felt that a bit too much time was spent on this seduction because I'm more inclined towards the modern view that sex is just physical interaction. Luckily, fat girl realizes this. There is nothing sacred about sex itself, it's the emotional bonds related that are important. Hence fat girl realizes there is no substantial difference between anal sex and vaginal sex. Saving yourself, your virginity, by simply having anal sex is just absurd. So fat girl is not going to save her vagina for someone she loves, but her emotional attachment. Skinny girl's anal sex is equated to fat girl's "rape." Both are seen as pseudo-sexuality that must be gone through in order to reach true loving sexuality. Skinny girl may have reached this true sexuality in the future, but abstaining from vaginal sex does nothing to promote this. Fat girl has to lose her virginity in order to reach authentic sex because as a virgin guys cannot get past objectivitifying her as a thing to be conquered. Only after can she have true sex. Skinny girl thinks that anal sex "doesn't count" but really it's the first sexual encounter that doesn't count. So when fat girl embraces her raper and then denies that it was rape, she is personifying this idea. The rape fit in perfectly and was an excellent ending.
So the idea is great, it's just the presentation that gets in the way. The skinny/fat juxtaposition is nice. The literal comparison highlights the sexual differences: Skinny girl's religious views of sex and Fat girl's secular views. So it works when we see so much effort put into stealing Skinny's girls virginity. She is building up the purity of sex for Fat girl to destroy it in the end. Overall I think that the building up is just too drawn out. It takes three fourths of the movie and just gets old. Besides the scene when Fat girl kisses poles in the pool and singing her prophetic songs, there isn't much creativity. There's not much to give interest to the underlying ideas.
Another problem is the Hollywood murder ending. There is no real reason for killing off mother and sister. This was done to put Fat girl in the position to get raped. A more fitting ending would have been for her to sneak out when mother and sister are asleep in order to investigate this trucker. It works because prior when the truck drove by and she saw all the sex items in the window her curiosity was aroused. She should then have gone out and still gotten "raped." This way we stick to the main themes and discard the superfluous melodrama.
So besides a few problems in plot, this was a good movie thematically. It's just the lackluster presentation that made me give it a six. I don't plan on ever seeing this movie again, though I had fun interpreting it.
Take what you will
jdrew92231 October 2001
At the NY Film Festival's Q&A with Breillat, she expressly forbid seeing "Fat Girl" (as she prefers to call it) as a morality play. She eluded any attempts to draw her into conclusions about her film, insisting that she is not a moralist.
What is clear from the questions she asks, however, is that she views sex with a certain contempt, especially as regards the male role in the act. The men that are in the film are either insensitive, duplicitous or murderous. Breillat's intent is to show how adrift any adolescent girl is when it comes to sexuality and to somehow convey that to an adult audience. She counseled young Anais during filming by saying, "We are making a film that I don't even think you can see when it is done, but it is not for you. It is supposed to scare adults."
What is clear from the questions she asks, however, is that she views sex with a certain contempt, especially as regards the male role in the act. The men that are in the film are either insensitive, duplicitous or murderous. Breillat's intent is to show how adrift any adolescent girl is when it comes to sexuality and to somehow convey that to an adult audience. She counseled young Anais during filming by saying, "We are making a film that I don't even think you can see when it is done, but it is not for you. It is supposed to scare adults."
Fairly good film, but............
turkam5 April 2005
Well, I am not sure why director made the decisions she did regarding the last 15 minutes of the film. She seems to have taken a page out of Claude Chabrol's textbook, which may have been a good thing but here it feels rather forced. The film seems to be a "Last Tango in Paris" for teenagers, as a young man from Italy takes up with a French girl who has a love/hate relationship with her fat sister (the title character). As Brando did with Maria Schidner, the Italian guy uses the word 'love' to exploit the girl sexually. The good acting makes the film work, until the part I have qualms. I am not sure the credit fully belongs to the director, but like Larry Clark's "Kids," the result is a profound statement about the cruelty of adolescence. We certainly empathize with the title character, and therefore it is harder to accept certain aspects of this film. The film is one of several French films in recent years with a brutal, pessimistic tone, including "The Dreamlife of Angels" and "demonlover." This film is far better than the director's awful mess "Romance." I can see why some people either really admired or loathed this film. Objectively, no one can take away from the great acting and solid cinematography and for that reason I choose to give it 3 stars as opposed to 2 and a half.
Being deeply unsatisfying is satisfyingly deep
vacax28 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
Most people watch movies in order to enjoy them. Every so often a film comes around that is hard to enjoy, but is undeniably artistic. And I'm not saying the movie isn't good -- I'm saying you're not supposed to leave the movie with feeling satisfied, happy, or particularly having enjoyed it.
I found the relationship between the sisters to be superbly crafted. Despite their differences and constant bickering, they love each other. This is clear. The sisters meet Fernando, who proceeds to seduce 15 year old Elena with every clichéd "you have to have sex with me to prove you love me" technique imaginable. However mind-bogglingly obvious his impure intentions are, Elena falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Though it sounds rather formulaic, I found it intriguing because it really does happen this way so often.
It is interesting how the younger Anais recognizes Fernando's intentions, yet allows her sister to make her own mistakes. Inevitably, it becomes apparent to all that Fernando betrayed Elena in the worst way. The mother responds in what is a rather cold and unsympathetic manner, but in reality this is exactly how any parent would react in the situation.
This is a spoiler-filled review, so I will now tackle the ending without holding back details. I'm sure many people are reading this in order to find out the opinions of others over the shocking and violent final scenes. Most of the parallels that this form explains have already been mentioned in other comments here. Is virginity sacred? Anais and Elena would answer that differently. Nonetheless, the end result is the same for both -- their first mates betray them. Elena believed her virginity was sacred, but was easily seduced and lost it. Even though Anais has a different take on virginity, she is also betrayed, this time by a rapist. You can also ponder the moral quandary of whether or not Elena was raped by her Italian lover. She may as well have been. In fact, it seems that having her heart torn out was more emotionally traumatic than when Anais's virginity was forcibly torn away.
Of course the responsibility for the tragic ending lies solely on the maniac who commits the acts. Yet, situationally speaking every single character (both sisters, both of their parents, Fernando, Fernando's mother) is somehow responsible for putting them in that place at that time.
If you're looking for a deeper meaning in the ending, I believe there is a notable parallel between the narrative and the ending. So many people have said, "the director ran out of ideas" or "it's a gimmick" or "it's just shock value" or just think it doesn't fit the narrative. Many have expressed feelings of cinematic betrayal in the end of the film -- this betrayal mirrors the betrayal of both sisters. The director is like Fernando, seducing us for the entire film, screwing us, then abandoning us. It is so sudden, shocking, and unbecoming that we feel raped... much like the Fat Girl.
The cinematic and artistic values hold true in the ending. You just have to look for it. It is up to personal taste whether this makes for a "good movie" or not.
I found the relationship between the sisters to be superbly crafted. Despite their differences and constant bickering, they love each other. This is clear. The sisters meet Fernando, who proceeds to seduce 15 year old Elena with every clichéd "you have to have sex with me to prove you love me" technique imaginable. However mind-bogglingly obvious his impure intentions are, Elena falls for it hook, line, and sinker. Though it sounds rather formulaic, I found it intriguing because it really does happen this way so often.
It is interesting how the younger Anais recognizes Fernando's intentions, yet allows her sister to make her own mistakes. Inevitably, it becomes apparent to all that Fernando betrayed Elena in the worst way. The mother responds in what is a rather cold and unsympathetic manner, but in reality this is exactly how any parent would react in the situation.
This is a spoiler-filled review, so I will now tackle the ending without holding back details. I'm sure many people are reading this in order to find out the opinions of others over the shocking and violent final scenes. Most of the parallels that this form explains have already been mentioned in other comments here. Is virginity sacred? Anais and Elena would answer that differently. Nonetheless, the end result is the same for both -- their first mates betray them. Elena believed her virginity was sacred, but was easily seduced and lost it. Even though Anais has a different take on virginity, she is also betrayed, this time by a rapist. You can also ponder the moral quandary of whether or not Elena was raped by her Italian lover. She may as well have been. In fact, it seems that having her heart torn out was more emotionally traumatic than when Anais's virginity was forcibly torn away.
Of course the responsibility for the tragic ending lies solely on the maniac who commits the acts. Yet, situationally speaking every single character (both sisters, both of their parents, Fernando, Fernando's mother) is somehow responsible for putting them in that place at that time.
If you're looking for a deeper meaning in the ending, I believe there is a notable parallel between the narrative and the ending. So many people have said, "the director ran out of ideas" or "it's a gimmick" or "it's just shock value" or just think it doesn't fit the narrative. Many have expressed feelings of cinematic betrayal in the end of the film -- this betrayal mirrors the betrayal of both sisters. The director is like Fernando, seducing us for the entire film, screwing us, then abandoning us. It is so sudden, shocking, and unbecoming that we feel raped... much like the Fat Girl.
The cinematic and artistic values hold true in the ending. You just have to look for it. It is up to personal taste whether this makes for a "good movie" or not.
the confusion of a young girl
jos-lams8 May 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I've enjoyed this picture because of the fine acting. For the main part it seems to be a family drama ,with some ironic touches,about the rivalry between two sisters , The oldest is fifteen and very attractive, the younger one is overweight and desperate to find ways to challenge her sister. There is rivalry concerning boys, but also concerning the attention of the parents. Nothing prepares you for the brutal last fifteen minutes of the otherwise slow moving story : a stranger attacks the mother and the older sister in their car, murders them, then takes the younger one into the woods and rapes her. The girl seems to undergo this ordeal in a docile way. Yet it is clear that we are watching murder and rape.The viewer is shocked and unprepared for this event : why is she reacting that way?Why does she declare to the police that it wasn't rape? But then one thinks back at the scenes where the older girl is seduced by her lover, in front of her sister who supposedly is sleeping...The young man persistently talks to the girl in his arms about love until she gives in to have sex with him, very reluctantly and crying.Is that what gives the other sister her ideas about love? That love and sex are undeniably linked with violence and pain? Breillat makes films about women and girls, and the way they react to the world : the men are merely there to make her (ambiguous) point.
Black and Bloodless at the Same Time...
AnnHolway36027 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Is this art? Hey, you tell me. First of all, IMHO, a story/film doesn't need to qualify as "art" to be enjoyable. Second of all, like Bill Sampson says in my beloved "All About Eve", "What book of rules says that theatre exists only within some ugly buildings crowded into one square-mile of New York City? Or London, Paris, or Vienna? Wherever there's magic and make-believe and an audience, there's theatre." Even if it's not theatre to you, it's theatre to someone - somewhere. (paraphrase) Well, there sure as heck ain't magic here.
There is an excellent scene where 13-year old budding misanthrope Anais, full of the passion-bloom of early adolescence and the fairy-tale imagination of childhood, swims back and forth in the pool, picturing herself as the desired object of two dream lovers. I also liked the fact that Anais is already light years ahead of her 15-year old sister in the brains department. However, a good scene does not a good movie make.
The shame is – it might have made a very good story. What could have been a pitch-perfect, pitch-dark comedy/horror about sibling rivalry, middle-class ennui and the treachery of some young men somehow turned into a nihilistic mishmash of implausible dialogue and uneven tone.
It's interesting to me, a rampant film freak, that I have no blanket objection to the controversial subject matter/images of the film, but to the movie's tone and execution itself. Child rape? Hey, I found "B*****d out of Carolina" hard viewing, but an excellent film. Miserable adolescence? Dawn Weiner, we salute you. Men can be scum? Hello, and welcome to the "Company of Men". (Man, Aaron Eckhart scared me off dating for YEARS with that one.) Ultra-violence, ahoy? "A Clockwork Orange" – gorgeousness and gorgeosity! The depiction of twisted sex and the dark roads it can lead its characters – and us – down? Why not try "Don't Move" with Penelope Cruz? A film wants to be controversial? I'm all for it – I consider free speech one of my greatest privileges and I don't condone censorship.
But this – alas. Watching it, I couldn't help but remember a quote from the quirky NYC comedy "Jeffrey" – "Evil is one-note. It bores me." IMHO, this is darkness and mire without shading, dimension, satire, irony or much of anything original to say.
This is a movie that would probably like to believe it's as quirky, sharp and sardonic as Anais actually is. Unfortunately, it's as trite, pasty and insipid as her snarky older sister is. Anais deserves another – better – story, as do the viewers.
No matter how slim the selection of your local movie mart, there are so many more comedies, tragedies and romances that deserve your time. If you happen to see this on the shelf, why not give it a polite nod and then keep walking? Your schedule – and your wallet – will thank you.
** Please also read Shinwa's insightful comments from 2002 – an excellent post!
There is an excellent scene where 13-year old budding misanthrope Anais, full of the passion-bloom of early adolescence and the fairy-tale imagination of childhood, swims back and forth in the pool, picturing herself as the desired object of two dream lovers. I also liked the fact that Anais is already light years ahead of her 15-year old sister in the brains department. However, a good scene does not a good movie make.
The shame is – it might have made a very good story. What could have been a pitch-perfect, pitch-dark comedy/horror about sibling rivalry, middle-class ennui and the treachery of some young men somehow turned into a nihilistic mishmash of implausible dialogue and uneven tone.
It's interesting to me, a rampant film freak, that I have no blanket objection to the controversial subject matter/images of the film, but to the movie's tone and execution itself. Child rape? Hey, I found "B*****d out of Carolina" hard viewing, but an excellent film. Miserable adolescence? Dawn Weiner, we salute you. Men can be scum? Hello, and welcome to the "Company of Men". (Man, Aaron Eckhart scared me off dating for YEARS with that one.) Ultra-violence, ahoy? "A Clockwork Orange" – gorgeousness and gorgeosity! The depiction of twisted sex and the dark roads it can lead its characters – and us – down? Why not try "Don't Move" with Penelope Cruz? A film wants to be controversial? I'm all for it – I consider free speech one of my greatest privileges and I don't condone censorship.
But this – alas. Watching it, I couldn't help but remember a quote from the quirky NYC comedy "Jeffrey" – "Evil is one-note. It bores me." IMHO, this is darkness and mire without shading, dimension, satire, irony or much of anything original to say.
This is a movie that would probably like to believe it's as quirky, sharp and sardonic as Anais actually is. Unfortunately, it's as trite, pasty and insipid as her snarky older sister is. Anais deserves another – better – story, as do the viewers.
No matter how slim the selection of your local movie mart, there are so many more comedies, tragedies and romances that deserve your time. If you happen to see this on the shelf, why not give it a polite nod and then keep walking? Your schedule – and your wallet – will thank you.
** Please also read Shinwa's insightful comments from 2002 – an excellent post!
Should Be Required Viewing in Sex Ed Classes for Young Teens
noralee6 December 2005
"Fat Girl" is unrated so probably will never be shown in sex ed classes for 14-year-old girls willing to read the subtitles of a French film. Too bad.
Written and directed by Catherine Breillat, whose other controversial movies about girls and sex I've somehow missed and will now catch up on, the original title of "A ma soeur!" (to, or maybe colloquially for, my sister) makes a lot more sense.
But not since the very scary "Smooth Talk" have I seen the seduction of a pretty teen-ager by a hunky older guy shown so effectively, as this is a whole lot more explicit and sensually realistic in how they interact in a cagey game of alluring naiveté vs. determined persuasion.
Unlike "American Beauty" whose quasi-pedophilia I found disturbing, this is a sophisticated view of the powerful forces unleashed between a guy young enough to be attracted yet old enough to know better, and a girl old enough to be attracted yet young enough not to know better. Is he the banality of evil, an update of Sportin' Life or the snake -- or is he just being a guy? In class, the teacher could stop the tape in the middle of the dialog and action, and say "Whoa, girls, what could you say when he says that? When he does that? When you feel like that?"
And we watch this all played out in a fascinating way, from the viewpoint of, with devastating impact on, her younger, titular sister who has to endure an up close and personal intimacy with them under the noses of oblivious parents.
While the sibling relationship is the anchor, the ending may be a culminating precautionary statement on a very negative view of the battle of the sexes, but no one walking out of the theater was sure.
The Ontario Film Review Board missed the educational point in censoring the film, but I concur that it's a disturbing film.
Listening to Top 40 radio on the way home sure made me suspicious of all those declarations of love pouring out from all those guys.
Coincidentally, I re-saw the Rohmer film "Pauline on the Beach" hours later on IFC and now see that Breillat is making a dark commentary on that classic, both riffing off a 14-year-old on vacation amidst a sexual whirligig; the French may have a different reaction than me.
(originally written 10/27/2001)
Written and directed by Catherine Breillat, whose other controversial movies about girls and sex I've somehow missed and will now catch up on, the original title of "A ma soeur!" (to, or maybe colloquially for, my sister) makes a lot more sense.
But not since the very scary "Smooth Talk" have I seen the seduction of a pretty teen-ager by a hunky older guy shown so effectively, as this is a whole lot more explicit and sensually realistic in how they interact in a cagey game of alluring naiveté vs. determined persuasion.
Unlike "American Beauty" whose quasi-pedophilia I found disturbing, this is a sophisticated view of the powerful forces unleashed between a guy young enough to be attracted yet old enough to know better, and a girl old enough to be attracted yet young enough not to know better. Is he the banality of evil, an update of Sportin' Life or the snake -- or is he just being a guy? In class, the teacher could stop the tape in the middle of the dialog and action, and say "Whoa, girls, what could you say when he says that? When he does that? When you feel like that?"
And we watch this all played out in a fascinating way, from the viewpoint of, with devastating impact on, her younger, titular sister who has to endure an up close and personal intimacy with them under the noses of oblivious parents.
While the sibling relationship is the anchor, the ending may be a culminating precautionary statement on a very negative view of the battle of the sexes, but no one walking out of the theater was sure.
The Ontario Film Review Board missed the educational point in censoring the film, but I concur that it's a disturbing film.
Listening to Top 40 radio on the way home sure made me suspicious of all those declarations of love pouring out from all those guys.
Coincidentally, I re-saw the Rohmer film "Pauline on the Beach" hours later on IFC and now see that Breillat is making a dark commentary on that classic, both riffing off a 14-year-old on vacation amidst a sexual whirligig; the French may have a different reaction than me.
(originally written 10/27/2001)
Food and Sex
Meganeguard20 February 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Fat Girl opens with a scene depicting the sister Anais, 13, and Elena, 15, walking to town from their vacation how to get a drink. At first it appears as a seemingly innocent scene until their conversation is overheard. Of course, the topic is sex. While this topic is nothing new for teenagers going through the difficult years of puberty, what strikes the viewer is that the conversation goes far beyond mere curiosity. Elena, slim and pretty, has already engaged in a number of amorous activities besides actual penetration and Anais, overweight, plain, and deadpan, while still a virgin, is convinced that she wants her first sexual encounter to be with someone that she does not love so that she will be "broken in" for the man that she will one day love. This conversation devolves until Elena challenges Anais to see who can get a boy first.
Arriving at a small outdoor café, an Italian university student invites to Anais and Elena to sit at his table with him. Anais is quick to sit beside the student, whose name is Fernando, but is ordered to stand by Elena. Fernando assures the girls that it is perfectly alright to sit with him and Elena quickly takes the seat next to him and soon, after ordering some refreshments and making small talk the two are kissing. Because of her beauty and character, Elena's parents made a rule that Anais must be with her at all times away from the vacation home, but Elena is quick to abandon her sister for a short getaway with her new boyfriend.
Later in the film, after sharing a meal with Elena and Anais and their parents, Fernando sneaks into the vacation home and puts the move on Elena and she is more than willing to do anything for Fernando outside of intercourse. On this point, Fernando's demeanor changes and he tries to convince Elena to give herself to him as a "proof of love" because if she does not he will have to go off and find another woman which he does not want to do because he "loves" her. To appease Fernando, Elena consents to another route of intimacy which leaves her feeling ashamed, but Fernando assures her that it was "beautiful and "a proof of her love" for him. During this entire process, Anais has been watching the young couple. She was not spying on them per se because the activities were taking place within the bedroom that she shares with her sister. More mature than her amorously inclined but naïve older sister, Anais can see that things are leading to disaster.
Always a controversial director because of her filmic depictions of sexuality that borderline on the pornographic, some would say dive right into the pornographic, Breillat delved into new ground and faced even more controversy because of its depictions of underage sexuality. However, the sexual acts depicted in the film are not meant to titillate but to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, because it is one of the few films that reflect the suffering of a young girl who has been suckered by a man she "loves," she is already talking to Fernando about getting married which he fully supports to reach his "goal," and the damaging effects that it has. Also, the film does a wonderful job depicting children who grow up too quickly and the highly uncomfortable situations that it can create. The scenes depicting the drive home are almost exhausting because of the high sense of tension that they create.
While I cannot recommend Fat Girl to everyone, I can recommend it to film viewers who want to delve into a film that depicts sexuality, especially on the part of the male, at its mot base and the resulting psychological and sociological effects that it has.
Arriving at a small outdoor café, an Italian university student invites to Anais and Elena to sit at his table with him. Anais is quick to sit beside the student, whose name is Fernando, but is ordered to stand by Elena. Fernando assures the girls that it is perfectly alright to sit with him and Elena quickly takes the seat next to him and soon, after ordering some refreshments and making small talk the two are kissing. Because of her beauty and character, Elena's parents made a rule that Anais must be with her at all times away from the vacation home, but Elena is quick to abandon her sister for a short getaway with her new boyfriend.
Later in the film, after sharing a meal with Elena and Anais and their parents, Fernando sneaks into the vacation home and puts the move on Elena and she is more than willing to do anything for Fernando outside of intercourse. On this point, Fernando's demeanor changes and he tries to convince Elena to give herself to him as a "proof of love" because if she does not he will have to go off and find another woman which he does not want to do because he "loves" her. To appease Fernando, Elena consents to another route of intimacy which leaves her feeling ashamed, but Fernando assures her that it was "beautiful and "a proof of her love" for him. During this entire process, Anais has been watching the young couple. She was not spying on them per se because the activities were taking place within the bedroom that she shares with her sister. More mature than her amorously inclined but naïve older sister, Anais can see that things are leading to disaster.
Always a controversial director because of her filmic depictions of sexuality that borderline on the pornographic, some would say dive right into the pornographic, Breillat delved into new ground and faced even more controversy because of its depictions of underage sexuality. However, the sexual acts depicted in the film are not meant to titillate but to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, because it is one of the few films that reflect the suffering of a young girl who has been suckered by a man she "loves," she is already talking to Fernando about getting married which he fully supports to reach his "goal," and the damaging effects that it has. Also, the film does a wonderful job depicting children who grow up too quickly and the highly uncomfortable situations that it can create. The scenes depicting the drive home are almost exhausting because of the high sense of tension that they create.
While I cannot recommend Fat Girl to everyone, I can recommend it to film viewers who want to delve into a film that depicts sexuality, especially on the part of the male, at its mot base and the resulting psychological and sociological effects that it has.
This is terrible
tinapopov9 February 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I read the insert with this movie and the director said she had two stories she wanted to tell and it feels like it. The ending ruins the whole movie. It feels tacked on and shocking for the sake of shock. From the moment the women get in the car, you know something bad is going to happen to them, the story takes a dive and you just wait for the bad, which does happen.
I can not tell you how sick I am of rape scenes, especially in French movies where the women end up embracing or encouraging their rapists. I also am not happy with the nudity of a 12-year-old girl and watching her get raped (with nudity involved) after seeing her family killed.
For people who like this kind of mess and don't know of more French movies like this, please see "I Stand Alone", "Criminal Lovers" and/or "One, Two, Three, Sun". All with rape scenes where the rapist is embraced or the act is condoned and make you feel incredibly disgusting after seeing them.
I can not tell you how sick I am of rape scenes, especially in French movies where the women end up embracing or encouraging their rapists. I also am not happy with the nudity of a 12-year-old girl and watching her get raped (with nudity involved) after seeing her family killed.
For people who like this kind of mess and don't know of more French movies like this, please see "I Stand Alone", "Criminal Lovers" and/or "One, Two, Three, Sun". All with rape scenes where the rapist is embraced or the act is condoned and make you feel incredibly disgusting after seeing them.
A polished film from Breillat on her usual themes of sexuality
Chris_Docker13 August 2001
Director Breillat is back and, as she did with "Romance", pushing the bounds of censorship in an intellectually challenging fashion. The story follows the sexual development of two sisters in their early teens. Their middle class family embody the usual social mores and protective attitudes. Moreover, the story makes us aware of the legal dilemma of under age sex, undertaken as a matter of conscious choice and with proper protection by the 15-year old (older) sister with a boyfriend only a few years her senior (ie the relationship would be legal in Netherlands but not in many countries, including France). These are two fairly "normal" sisters, although the younger one is excessively overweight and only fantasizes about getting a boyfriend. There is some possible interpretation that the 15-year old's psychological development would progress more soundly were she not (initially) fettered by taboos over her own virginity. In one scene, a TV in the background has a Breillat-type character being interviewed and giving her philosophy about the intrinsic nature of sex, how it is something common to us all and that can be understood by anyone, and that we are all alike inasmuch as no-one is perfect. The characters and scenes are painted brilliantly, the sibling rivalry coupled with intense sisterly bonding, the mother driving at night and, as many people will have, with a lack of sleep and so not as perfectly safely as normal. It is the realism and ordinariness of the situations that keep us on the edge of our seats. The dialogue has the realism that suggests youngsters may have suggested some of the lines, with their observations that have the power to startle us out of complacency. The use of actors so young in fairly explicit scenes will be a matter of great concern, but Breillat is serious about her work and convinces us that she is not pandering to sensationalism but raising valid questions about how we effectively handle the challenges presented by precocious adolescents. The film is more polished than Breillat's earlier work and has an unnerving denouement, well-delivered.
A ma souer
JoeytheBrit18 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
At first, Catherine Breillat's movie about sisterhood and sexual awakening appears to be one of those sophisticated French character studies in which nothing much happens throughout and for much of the film's brief running time, this is the case. However, having carried us along a familiar if somewhat darker than usual path, Breillat fashions a climax that is as violent and shocking as it is unexpected and cryptic. This climax, and the film's stark portrayal of teenage sex are the film's main talking points, and have perhaps served to earn it more of a reputation than it deserves; one can only speculate on Breillat's motives for choosing to end her film in a manner that is so at odds to the rest of the film's content.
Sexy, vivacious Elena (Roxanne Mesquida) and plump, pasty Anais (Anais Pingot) are sisters who are polar opposites, both physically and emotionally. At fifteen, Elena is already the focus of men's desires; she has a highly naïve and romanticised view of sex and more specifically of how she wishes to lose her virginity: she wishes it to be a declaration of and testimony to the love she shares with her partner. Anais, a couple of years younger than her sister, but far wiser and level-headed, would prefer to lose hers to a stranger, a man who means nothing to her, instinctively understanding that the physical act is less important than the emotional attachment of love. It has to be said that this is pretty adult thinking for a 12/13-year-old, but serves to demonstrate the differences between the sisters that leads to the events that follow.
While on holiday, the sisters meet an older Italian boy, Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), and within minutes Elena and Fernando are swapping spit while Anais gorges herself on a banana split. One night, Fernando creeps into the girls' bedroom and, in a quietly devastating scene that is all the more powerful for its matter-of-factness, begs and cajoles Elena into having sex with him. Elena finally agrees to anal sex while Anais feigns sleep in the bed across the room. The following night, frightened of losing Fernando, Elena agrees to full sex. When their liaison is discovered, the girls' mother (Arsinee Khanjian) angrily cuts short their holiday, and the three embark on an ill-fated journey home.
A Ma Soeur is a slow, deliberately paced film that takes the time to fully explore the relationship between Elena and Anais, and the ways in which each react toward their own burgeoning sexuality. The depiction of this relationship is one of the stronger, more believable, aspects of the film. Elena is, by turns, cruel and kind toward her little sister (although, apart from a wonderfully staged scene in which the sister's share an intimate moment recalling shared memories, all these displays of affection are either when the girls are alone, or to serve her own purposes), while Anais wastes no opportunity to remind Elena of what a bitch she is. Despite this, there is an unbreakable bond between the two girls that is acknowledged by neither of them. Anais' own sexual awakening is inspired by the approach of Elena's inevitable deflowering, and she bombards her older sister with questions, the answers to which fuel a smouldering resentment of her sister's looks, and the opportunities they afford her. Completing a classic vicious circle by turning to food for comfort, Anais resorts to fantasising about lover's tormented by her flightiness, mouthing soothing words to each of them as she swims back and forth between the diving board and the steps of a swimming pool.
The deliberately un-erotic 'seduction' scene lasts for nearly twenty minutes, and is compellingly realistic as Fernando skilfully manipulates Elena into making a 'demonstration of her love' by using methods of persuasion used by most boys and heard by most girls at some point in their early adulthood. The trick here, though, is that, although she plays coy, Elena isn't really reluctant to make love to Fernando she just needs to be talked into it, to be persuaded by declarations of love that will fulfil her romantic juvenile fantasies. Despite what others may think, while this film may arguably be a feminist tract, it isn't anti-men it simply casts an unerringly accurate eye on the ploys and the self-deception we all employ in our pursuit of sexual gratification at that age.
The jarring climax seems a strange choice on Breillat's part, although it can be argued that it resonates with the implications of views expressed earlier in the film by Anais. In fact, I first thought it was all part of some dark fantasy of Anais' until the final scene; but, as the camera freezes on her face, perhaps we are seeing that she believes she has achieved some kind of parity with her sister, has undergone her initiation and, having done so, can now concentrate on more meaningful pursuits. And, then again, perhaps not. It's one of those ambiguous endings open to numerous interpretations - that the more cynical viewer may believe has been deliberately designed to provoke speculation and debate.
Sexy, vivacious Elena (Roxanne Mesquida) and plump, pasty Anais (Anais Pingot) are sisters who are polar opposites, both physically and emotionally. At fifteen, Elena is already the focus of men's desires; she has a highly naïve and romanticised view of sex and more specifically of how she wishes to lose her virginity: she wishes it to be a declaration of and testimony to the love she shares with her partner. Anais, a couple of years younger than her sister, but far wiser and level-headed, would prefer to lose hers to a stranger, a man who means nothing to her, instinctively understanding that the physical act is less important than the emotional attachment of love. It has to be said that this is pretty adult thinking for a 12/13-year-old, but serves to demonstrate the differences between the sisters that leads to the events that follow.
While on holiday, the sisters meet an older Italian boy, Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), and within minutes Elena and Fernando are swapping spit while Anais gorges herself on a banana split. One night, Fernando creeps into the girls' bedroom and, in a quietly devastating scene that is all the more powerful for its matter-of-factness, begs and cajoles Elena into having sex with him. Elena finally agrees to anal sex while Anais feigns sleep in the bed across the room. The following night, frightened of losing Fernando, Elena agrees to full sex. When their liaison is discovered, the girls' mother (Arsinee Khanjian) angrily cuts short their holiday, and the three embark on an ill-fated journey home.
A Ma Soeur is a slow, deliberately paced film that takes the time to fully explore the relationship between Elena and Anais, and the ways in which each react toward their own burgeoning sexuality. The depiction of this relationship is one of the stronger, more believable, aspects of the film. Elena is, by turns, cruel and kind toward her little sister (although, apart from a wonderfully staged scene in which the sister's share an intimate moment recalling shared memories, all these displays of affection are either when the girls are alone, or to serve her own purposes), while Anais wastes no opportunity to remind Elena of what a bitch she is. Despite this, there is an unbreakable bond between the two girls that is acknowledged by neither of them. Anais' own sexual awakening is inspired by the approach of Elena's inevitable deflowering, and she bombards her older sister with questions, the answers to which fuel a smouldering resentment of her sister's looks, and the opportunities they afford her. Completing a classic vicious circle by turning to food for comfort, Anais resorts to fantasising about lover's tormented by her flightiness, mouthing soothing words to each of them as she swims back and forth between the diving board and the steps of a swimming pool.
The deliberately un-erotic 'seduction' scene lasts for nearly twenty minutes, and is compellingly realistic as Fernando skilfully manipulates Elena into making a 'demonstration of her love' by using methods of persuasion used by most boys and heard by most girls at some point in their early adulthood. The trick here, though, is that, although she plays coy, Elena isn't really reluctant to make love to Fernando she just needs to be talked into it, to be persuaded by declarations of love that will fulfil her romantic juvenile fantasies. Despite what others may think, while this film may arguably be a feminist tract, it isn't anti-men it simply casts an unerringly accurate eye on the ploys and the self-deception we all employ in our pursuit of sexual gratification at that age.
The jarring climax seems a strange choice on Breillat's part, although it can be argued that it resonates with the implications of views expressed earlier in the film by Anais. In fact, I first thought it was all part of some dark fantasy of Anais' until the final scene; but, as the camera freezes on her face, perhaps we are seeing that she believes she has achieved some kind of parity with her sister, has undergone her initiation and, having done so, can now concentrate on more meaningful pursuits. And, then again, perhaps not. It's one of those ambiguous endings open to numerous interpretations - that the more cynical viewer may believe has been deliberately designed to provoke speculation and debate.
An inhuman film
dbarriba12 January 2002
This film suffers from the skewed view of human nature that infects much of European film, and indeed western culture. The sisters in this film are reduced to their sexual natures. We view them only through their sexual desires, the other aspects of their personalities are glossed over and subsumed into these sexual desires. Many have stated that this film is real, but I have to disagree. I do not think that teenagers are solely the selfish, sexualized beings depicted here. A few are, and their hormones are certainly raging, but they cannot be reduced to their sexuality. This film depicts teenagers the way many western intellectual elites want them to be, not the way they really are. The sisters' natures are one-dimensional.
I Anais' actions and reactions at the end of the film to be totally unrealistic. I cannot imagine a 12 year old girl behaving that way in that situation.
I Anais' actions and reactions at the end of the film to be totally unrealistic. I cannot imagine a 12 year old girl behaving that way in that situation.
I was devastated by this vicious, brilliant film
Mattydee7427 May 2001
This film is a necessary act of violation on its viewers. A pure, lethal injection of dramatic suffering which is beautifully rendered but left me feeling devastated by its intensity. Breillat is a director who has already made shock-waves with her last film "Romance". In her latest piece of disturbing cinematic violence, she takes us inside the life of a 13 year old overweight girl inside an average, upper middle-class family. On a holiday away with this family, we experience her exposed difference as her 15 year old sister begins to experiment with sex, often with her young sister a passive spectator. The parents are indifferent creatures, affected mainly by social pressures and appearances. Unaware - or possibly simply disinterested - in their daughters lives, they miss the painful undersides of the two girls forced closeness. Breillat offers more explicit sex, erections, and some extremely gruelling violence. I recommend this film but its intelligence and emotional truth is, necessary.
unhappy, yet real
cero-325 November 2001
It seems to me most the public did not enjoy this particular movie as it is not the kind of movie with a happy or funny ending. This movie comes with a more real-life ending. While this may not be something most the public may wish to see, I was glad to see a film this daring being shown to the public. I believe the film truly shows the unhappy reality of humanity these times and what today's selfish mankind will do to meet certain animalistic needs.
Regards.
Regards.
Suddenly, Last Summer
Galina_movie_fan20 November 2007
Catherine Breillat's "Fat Girl" (2001) is an astounding movie that provides uncompromising and unblinking look at the relationship between two teenage sisters, and their first sexual experiences. The older sister, 15 years old Elena, has no problems attracting boys' attention and sexual desire and while on the family vacation, she meets an older, more experienced boy, who will say and promise anything to seduce her. There are two long, thorough and uncomfortable scenes of seducing Elena that take place in the girls' bedroom with the younger sister, 12 years old Anais, the fat girl of the title not quite asleep. Breillat remembers well what the hell it is to be a teenager, to be confused, frustrated, to think low of yourself, to be ready to enter the world of sexual relationships, to be ready for love, for intimate closeness and to pretend that you don't care about them at all. She also looks closely and with none a gram of sentimentality into siblings' and parents daughters relationship. The scenes of cruelty and contempt the older sister treats the younger one alternate with rare but poignant moments of tenderness and understanding. Breillat takes us to places we don't go often and we don't want to go but they exist. If you've seen Brellat's movies already, you know that her outlook is not particularly happy, optimistic, or sentimental but "Fat Girl" will shock you as very few movies can. Just when you think that the movie is over and despite the disappointments, embarrassing revelations, and shameless manipulations, live goes on and has so much to offer, Breillat presents you with the final scene that is very difficult to watch and impossible to forget. It does not matter really if the final scene actually took place or was just a fantasy, just the dream projected on the screen.
Sex and the fat girl!
DukeEman5 February 2008
In her movies the director does not intend to shock you, but reveals the harsh ugliness of the human condition via the power of sex that leads all to temptation and destruction. In A Ma Soeur! we see the slow torturous disintegration of the title character via the relationships with the elder sibling and parents. On top of that she has the anti-social disease, being FAT. With everything against her, this poor creature endures humiliation right down to the final blow. It's never pretty in a Catherine Breillat movie, but it at least is brutally honest in every way. What hit home for me was the depiction of teenagers and their approach to sex. It reminded me of my puberty phase in life, where sex was seen as a cruel instrument for which to punish with and also to abuse for one's own gratification!
Awful.
Florin-C31 December 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This is one of the movies I could easily rate as one of the most hateful movies of all time. I saw it some time ago on TV, as the last thing on that day, so, luckily, it couldn't spoil much of the rest of my day.
But I imagine myself what would have been had I seen this on big screen, having paid for it. I think I would have asked myself: "Did I really need to see this ?" Worst thing is it doesn't get that bad, to make you walk out on it, until the last few minutes, but, when it gets bad, it gets obnoxious.
I wonder what made the director want to do this movie, then, I remembered that this species of film directors exist for quite some time, who want to stir controversy at all costs, and who live on the hype, and not on the money their movies make.
Having said all that I think that this movie could have been saved at least partially, if that last sequence of events had been set only in the imagination of the young girl. All the movie is about the build-up of hate from the main character towards her sister (and her mom, for her indifference), so I could have understood it. But then the director said: "Well, let's make it real. Just for shock's sake. I bet every film critic will have something to say about this."
1* (because 0 is not an option on IMDb, unfortunately).
But I imagine myself what would have been had I seen this on big screen, having paid for it. I think I would have asked myself: "Did I really need to see this ?" Worst thing is it doesn't get that bad, to make you walk out on it, until the last few minutes, but, when it gets bad, it gets obnoxious.
I wonder what made the director want to do this movie, then, I remembered that this species of film directors exist for quite some time, who want to stir controversy at all costs, and who live on the hype, and not on the money their movies make.
Having said all that I think that this movie could have been saved at least partially, if that last sequence of events had been set only in the imagination of the young girl. All the movie is about the build-up of hate from the main character towards her sister (and her mom, for her indifference), so I could have understood it. But then the director said: "Well, let's make it real. Just for shock's sake. I bet every film critic will have something to say about this."
1* (because 0 is not an option on IMDb, unfortunately).
heterosexuality in a mess
jaibo23 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Devastating portrait of heterosexuality in a mess. A holiday romance between an beautiful virgin and a bland seducer is anatomised to show every twist and turn of the manipulations involved when a boy tries to get his dick inside a Romantically-inclined girl. The relationship begs many questions, not least why heterosexual sex needs to be conducted under the cloud of subterfuge. All of this is witnessed by the girl's overweight younger sister, a heretic against society's body fascism who carries not just excess body fat but a cynicism about men and relationships which belies her age to a frightening degree.
The long central sex scene in the sisters' shared bedroom is painful and authentic, with a morbid humour. The adults in the film - a workaholic bourgeois father, his neurotic wife and the blowzy Italian mama of the boy who indulges in over-dramatic posturing, suggest that the troubled teens have little but hypocrisy and pathology to look forwards to in adulthood.
At the end of the film, something truly shocking and horrible happens, after a long and hair-raising driving sequence as terrifying as anything in Duel. The ending is contentious and a deliberate non-sequitur. It seems to be suggesting that the truth about male/female sexuality is a murderous fury from the male end combined with a retreat into self-protective emotional catatonia in the female. A film which has been a social comedy-drama turns into a transgressive fantasy, and the effect leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth, not least because some of the possible readings involve the younger girl both willing and needing the event to happen in order to liberate her from the prison of her family and the oppressive beauty of her sister.
The long central sex scene in the sisters' shared bedroom is painful and authentic, with a morbid humour. The adults in the film - a workaholic bourgeois father, his neurotic wife and the blowzy Italian mama of the boy who indulges in over-dramatic posturing, suggest that the troubled teens have little but hypocrisy and pathology to look forwards to in adulthood.
At the end of the film, something truly shocking and horrible happens, after a long and hair-raising driving sequence as terrifying as anything in Duel. The ending is contentious and a deliberate non-sequitur. It seems to be suggesting that the truth about male/female sexuality is a murderous fury from the male end combined with a retreat into self-protective emotional catatonia in the female. A film which has been a social comedy-drama turns into a transgressive fantasy, and the effect leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth, not least because some of the possible readings involve the younger girl both willing and needing the event to happen in order to liberate her from the prison of her family and the oppressive beauty of her sister.
Wrongfooting the viewer
drella66621 March 2005
Breillat's movie at first seems to be the sort of French coming of age movie that we've seen 100 times before. The older sister is very much in the mould of Vanessa Paradis or Ludivine Sagnier - perky, pouty, coquettish and not averse to getting naked when it's artistically justified. She gets naked, the viewer gets turned on, then remembers she's only meant to be 15. Confusion, confusion...
Of course, this is clearly not an idyllic, soft-focus loss-of-innocence-on-summer-holiday romp. Breillat's sexual politics come through clearly, as the two main male characters are seen to be obnoxious abusers, exercising their control through sex (the boyfriend) or paternal/capitalist power (the father).
The ending, shocking as it is, is too ambiguous. Presumably the violence is meant to remind us that the other male characters are equally guilty, but in a more socially acceptable way. However, an alternative interpretation is that such real, extreme, sociopathic violence puts the actions of the boyfriend and father into context. Are their behaviours really so bad, when compared with the behaviour of the transgressor in the car park.
So... watch if you want an essay in feminism. Or if you like cute, naked girls. How very postmodern, Catherine.
Of course, this is clearly not an idyllic, soft-focus loss-of-innocence-on-summer-holiday romp. Breillat's sexual politics come through clearly, as the two main male characters are seen to be obnoxious abusers, exercising their control through sex (the boyfriend) or paternal/capitalist power (the father).
The ending, shocking as it is, is too ambiguous. Presumably the violence is meant to remind us that the other male characters are equally guilty, but in a more socially acceptable way. However, an alternative interpretation is that such real, extreme, sociopathic violence puts the actions of the boyfriend and father into context. Are their behaviours really so bad, when compared with the behaviour of the transgressor in the car park.
So... watch if you want an essay in feminism. Or if you like cute, naked girls. How very postmodern, Catherine.
Story of two sisters is rather dull before it gets worse
dbborroughs12 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
(CONTAINS SPOILERS-The ending is discussed) Another stunningly strange film from Catherine Breillat, director of Romance, Anatomy of Hell and Real Young Girl.
The plot concerns two sisters the older one, Elena who is about 14 or 15, and is thin and beautiful, and the younger,Anais, who is 12, is fat. While on vacation they meet a law student and Elena begins a dangerous flirtation with the young man. This quickly leads to several secret night time visits to the girls room as Anais watches her sister and her paramour. Tension grows between the girls as Anais longs for the affection that her sister is getting.
I should state I'm not a fan of Catherine Breillat. I find her films shocking and silly. Clearly she's going for an effect, which she usually achieves, and which is usually dissipated by the the lack of anything behind it (to paraphrase some one famous she presents the obvious by way of the scandalous). Here for example we have several scenes of intimacy between Elena and her beau, which are filmed in long almost painful takes that simulate Anais watching from across the room. The scenes are edgy for what they are showing and uncomfortable since the girl involved is 14 or 15. (Anais is suppose to be 12. Though both seem older.) For me the scenes went from intriguing to uncomfortable to dull rather quickly as they seemed to just drag on. To me the scenes would have worked better had we gotten to know the two girls more at the start. Certainly a later scene where the pair shows affection for each other adds a great deal the relationship between the pair, but for me it was too late to affect the early sex scenes. Breillat also goes for effect when she has the mother drive the girls home and we have what seems like a two hour ride with the three women in the car moving in and out of traffic. Its grand foreshadowing and she builds tension for an event that never comes while at the same time keeping you sleepy enough that when the final bit comes you're completely unprepared.
I have to tell you what that was but nothing that happens in the preceding 80 minutes prepared me for the unintentionally funny conclusion of this film. Many people find the sudden and shocking turn of events horrify and unnerving and the very end is, however what sparks that is simply very silly, and it was so out of left field, so bizarre, so ridiculous that the boredom of the long car sequence was sent packing as I doubled over in a fit of laughter. I can not and could not believe that anyone would do what Breillat does. Its a shock technique that doesn't belong in this film or a film like this which no doubt why so many people are horrified by it. Even if this were the sort of film that it might belong in, no one would do it as silly as here. What bothers me is that it leads up to a disturbing event that, and we should be really shocked and rattled to our core but for me it was wildly undercut in its power because what it took to get us there was so contrived and so ludicrous it runs the final bit.
I don't know what deeper meaning was behind it all, certainly the rivalry between sisters and sexual longing and such,but I got no hidden truth, nothing I didn't know before. I'm sure it has something with Anais' statements about sex, then again it could be the most forceful statement of what many consider a slasher films morality, namely sex is bad. To be honest I had my cage rattled a bit, but to what end? Perhaps had I been a girl with a sister or two this might have meant something to me, but as it stands now its a dullish movie with a WTF ending.
I'd leave this review there except I have to say something about the best thing in this film, namely the two girls the story revolves around. They are both stunning beautiful and damn fine actresses. The interplay between them is very real and I would love to see them paired up again, in a better film. To be honest they are so good that I will probably watch this again to see them interact (especially in the secrets scene) 4 out of 10 (I was tempted to say 5 out of ten but the ending really strikes me as too silly- a great moment-but for all the wrong reasons. I think the end is what sealed this films doom)
The plot concerns two sisters the older one, Elena who is about 14 or 15, and is thin and beautiful, and the younger,Anais, who is 12, is fat. While on vacation they meet a law student and Elena begins a dangerous flirtation with the young man. This quickly leads to several secret night time visits to the girls room as Anais watches her sister and her paramour. Tension grows between the girls as Anais longs for the affection that her sister is getting.
I should state I'm not a fan of Catherine Breillat. I find her films shocking and silly. Clearly she's going for an effect, which she usually achieves, and which is usually dissipated by the the lack of anything behind it (to paraphrase some one famous she presents the obvious by way of the scandalous). Here for example we have several scenes of intimacy between Elena and her beau, which are filmed in long almost painful takes that simulate Anais watching from across the room. The scenes are edgy for what they are showing and uncomfortable since the girl involved is 14 or 15. (Anais is suppose to be 12. Though both seem older.) For me the scenes went from intriguing to uncomfortable to dull rather quickly as they seemed to just drag on. To me the scenes would have worked better had we gotten to know the two girls more at the start. Certainly a later scene where the pair shows affection for each other adds a great deal the relationship between the pair, but for me it was too late to affect the early sex scenes. Breillat also goes for effect when she has the mother drive the girls home and we have what seems like a two hour ride with the three women in the car moving in and out of traffic. Its grand foreshadowing and she builds tension for an event that never comes while at the same time keeping you sleepy enough that when the final bit comes you're completely unprepared.
I have to tell you what that was but nothing that happens in the preceding 80 minutes prepared me for the unintentionally funny conclusion of this film. Many people find the sudden and shocking turn of events horrify and unnerving and the very end is, however what sparks that is simply very silly, and it was so out of left field, so bizarre, so ridiculous that the boredom of the long car sequence was sent packing as I doubled over in a fit of laughter. I can not and could not believe that anyone would do what Breillat does. Its a shock technique that doesn't belong in this film or a film like this which no doubt why so many people are horrified by it. Even if this were the sort of film that it might belong in, no one would do it as silly as here. What bothers me is that it leads up to a disturbing event that, and we should be really shocked and rattled to our core but for me it was wildly undercut in its power because what it took to get us there was so contrived and so ludicrous it runs the final bit.
I don't know what deeper meaning was behind it all, certainly the rivalry between sisters and sexual longing and such,but I got no hidden truth, nothing I didn't know before. I'm sure it has something with Anais' statements about sex, then again it could be the most forceful statement of what many consider a slasher films morality, namely sex is bad. To be honest I had my cage rattled a bit, but to what end? Perhaps had I been a girl with a sister or two this might have meant something to me, but as it stands now its a dullish movie with a WTF ending.
I'd leave this review there except I have to say something about the best thing in this film, namely the two girls the story revolves around. They are both stunning beautiful and damn fine actresses. The interplay between them is very real and I would love to see them paired up again, in a better film. To be honest they are so good that I will probably watch this again to see them interact (especially in the secrets scene) 4 out of 10 (I was tempted to say 5 out of ten but the ending really strikes me as too silly- a great moment-but for all the wrong reasons. I think the end is what sealed this films doom)
Be careful with what you wish for.
fdpedro14 April 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Catherine Breillat's "Fat Girl" is another one of those European coming-of-age films where two friends/relatives, one more sexually active than the other, spend a summer vacation in a beach resort. This time, it's two sisters: Fifteen-year old Elena (Roxana Mesquida, who appears to be younger) is the oldest and wishes to loose her virginity with someone she loves. Her younger sister is a innocent and chunky twelve-year old Anais (Anaïs Reboux) who would rather experience sex with a complete stranger. Both of them get their wishes.
Most of the film takes place inside the girls' bedroom, where Elena's slightly older Italian lover Fernando (Libero de Rienzo) hops through the window occasionally at night. The fact that Anais' bed is in the same room doesn't stop them from experiencing sex in front of her, who watches them in curiosity, as well as repugnance.
Similar to the bedroom scenes in Breillat's previous film, the dreadful "Romance X", these are actually some of this film's strongest aspects. They last for quite a while, and they actually feel like one single scene. Unlike other films with strong sexual content, Breillat never switches on the "porno mode", making the scene seem like one single unbroken piece.
Briellat's films are famous for having graphic depictions of sex but "Fat Girl" uses a more subtle approach. While we do see the couple naked, the camera never lingers into the bodies, it is all filmed in one take. And not much of it is shown, Breillat leaves it to our imagination by filming Anais' reaction to it all, and only allowing us to hear the encounter. Alejandro Amenabar used a very similar trick in "Thesis", where sound would allow us to imagine the snuff film's brutal murders.
The two sisters' relationship is a far cry from what one would expect. If you are waiting for constant whining and shouting between them, you will be disappointed. While they do argue, they are for most of the time friendly with each other. Little scenes like the family's visit to a mall, or when they talk in bed together, are what make this film special. In the end, they are best friends and do love each other, despite their differences and arguments.
Many people have criticized Breillat for negative portrayal of men in her films. Lorenzo is indeed a narrow-minded opportunist who is only seeking to take Elena's virginity, but no other character in the film is very positive either except for the title character. Elena is so naïve that at times she could be the protagonist of a Lars Von Trier tragedy, and the mother (Arsinée Khanjian) doesn't really know how to handle the situation near the end. One must give actress Anais Reboux credit for making her character adorable, when many other characters could have failed to cross the "from innocent and cute to annoying" borderline.
Similar to Takashi Miike's "Audition", "Fat Girl" goes from a slow drama to very disturbing horror near the end. Many people have criticized the ending but I am one of the defenders. ***SPOILERS*** It is very hard to believe the events in the conclusion were real. Like Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", I stand by the theory that it all takes place in poor Anais' imagination, nothing but a twisted fantasy on how it would have all come full-cycle. In less than a minute, both girls have their wishes come true. Elena gets both her and her mother killed, just like she said in a road-stop, and Anais looses her virginity to a complete stranger, somehow. I would also like to mention the window-shattering moment has to be one of the most surprising moments in cinema in the last years. It comes out of nowhere, and will make you jump more than any other cheap scare tactic used in many lame horror films these days. ***END OF SPOILERS***
One of the best, and darkest, coming-of-age films you will ever encounter, "Fat Girl" is essential viewing to anyone who likes the genre. Great acting, superb cinematography, and well-handled direction by one of France's most daring filmmakers.
Most of the film takes place inside the girls' bedroom, where Elena's slightly older Italian lover Fernando (Libero de Rienzo) hops through the window occasionally at night. The fact that Anais' bed is in the same room doesn't stop them from experiencing sex in front of her, who watches them in curiosity, as well as repugnance.
Similar to the bedroom scenes in Breillat's previous film, the dreadful "Romance X", these are actually some of this film's strongest aspects. They last for quite a while, and they actually feel like one single scene. Unlike other films with strong sexual content, Breillat never switches on the "porno mode", making the scene seem like one single unbroken piece.
Briellat's films are famous for having graphic depictions of sex but "Fat Girl" uses a more subtle approach. While we do see the couple naked, the camera never lingers into the bodies, it is all filmed in one take. And not much of it is shown, Breillat leaves it to our imagination by filming Anais' reaction to it all, and only allowing us to hear the encounter. Alejandro Amenabar used a very similar trick in "Thesis", where sound would allow us to imagine the snuff film's brutal murders.
The two sisters' relationship is a far cry from what one would expect. If you are waiting for constant whining and shouting between them, you will be disappointed. While they do argue, they are for most of the time friendly with each other. Little scenes like the family's visit to a mall, or when they talk in bed together, are what make this film special. In the end, they are best friends and do love each other, despite their differences and arguments.
Many people have criticized Breillat for negative portrayal of men in her films. Lorenzo is indeed a narrow-minded opportunist who is only seeking to take Elena's virginity, but no other character in the film is very positive either except for the title character. Elena is so naïve that at times she could be the protagonist of a Lars Von Trier tragedy, and the mother (Arsinée Khanjian) doesn't really know how to handle the situation near the end. One must give actress Anais Reboux credit for making her character adorable, when many other characters could have failed to cross the "from innocent and cute to annoying" borderline.
Similar to Takashi Miike's "Audition", "Fat Girl" goes from a slow drama to very disturbing horror near the end. Many people have criticized the ending but I am one of the defenders. ***SPOILERS*** It is very hard to believe the events in the conclusion were real. Like Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", I stand by the theory that it all takes place in poor Anais' imagination, nothing but a twisted fantasy on how it would have all come full-cycle. In less than a minute, both girls have their wishes come true. Elena gets both her and her mother killed, just like she said in a road-stop, and Anais looses her virginity to a complete stranger, somehow. I would also like to mention the window-shattering moment has to be one of the most surprising moments in cinema in the last years. It comes out of nowhere, and will make you jump more than any other cheap scare tactic used in many lame horror films these days. ***END OF SPOILERS***
One of the best, and darkest, coming-of-age films you will ever encounter, "Fat Girl" is essential viewing to anyone who likes the genre. Great acting, superb cinematography, and well-handled direction by one of France's most daring filmmakers.
Another Disappointing "Shocker"...
EVOL66611 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
First off - FAT GIRL is not a "bad" film. It's actually a pretty solid coming-of-age tale that ends up being marred by the "shocking" ending which comes totally out of left field. There's an interesting story to be told here, too bad it gets cut short by the end-scenes, which feel to me as though they were included strictly for shock-value and to liven up the film a bit, or as a way to abruptly conclude a film without committing to any real resolution.
A family on vacation repeatedly shows the audience their dysfunctions, especially amongst the two young sisters - one a 15 year old beauty, the other, her slightly younger sister who is the "fat girl". During the vacation, the hotter sister meets an older boy who uses all of the typical adolescent/young-adult lines to get her to give up the goods. Of course this works - and we get some relatively explicit (full-frontal from the chick, guy shows his boner, no penetration) lolita scenes. The mother finds out about her daughter's deflowering and starts the long drive home. There's lots of crying and finger-pointing between the mother and two daughters, and eventually the mother tires and pulls over at a rest-stop for the night. As the mother and hotter sister are sleeping in the front seat ***Spoilers*** out of nowhere - a hatchet wielding maniac smashes in the windshield, hits hot sister over the head with the hatchet (killing her) and strangles the mother to death. Fat Girl runs into the woods where she is pursued by psycho-hatchet-wielder who then rapes her. The cops find the crime scene with Fat Girl as the sole survivor...THE END...
FAT GIRL reminded me too much of another over-rated "shocker" - IRREVERSIBLE, in that most of what will be talked about in the film is the one scene of brutal violence. In FAT GIRL's case, there's some (simulated) under-age sex too to cry about for all the morality-cops out there, but for the most part - the shock scenes are all that anyone's gonna notice. It's a shame too, as unlike IRREVERSIBLE which I found dull and with no real "point" - FAT GIRL's story of lost youth and innocence and familial discontent are universal concepts and were handled rather well until the completely disjointed and out-of-place ending. Now, I dig shock films way more than the average film viewer - but unfortunately the ending of FAT GIRL just seemed like a cheap cop-out to an otherwise decent film. Again, not a terrible film (hence my slightly above average rating) - but my disappointment in both the ending of the film and the hype I'd heard surrounding it, drop this one down several notches...6/10
A family on vacation repeatedly shows the audience their dysfunctions, especially amongst the two young sisters - one a 15 year old beauty, the other, her slightly younger sister who is the "fat girl". During the vacation, the hotter sister meets an older boy who uses all of the typical adolescent/young-adult lines to get her to give up the goods. Of course this works - and we get some relatively explicit (full-frontal from the chick, guy shows his boner, no penetration) lolita scenes. The mother finds out about her daughter's deflowering and starts the long drive home. There's lots of crying and finger-pointing between the mother and two daughters, and eventually the mother tires and pulls over at a rest-stop for the night. As the mother and hotter sister are sleeping in the front seat ***Spoilers*** out of nowhere - a hatchet wielding maniac smashes in the windshield, hits hot sister over the head with the hatchet (killing her) and strangles the mother to death. Fat Girl runs into the woods where she is pursued by psycho-hatchet-wielder who then rapes her. The cops find the crime scene with Fat Girl as the sole survivor...THE END...
FAT GIRL reminded me too much of another over-rated "shocker" - IRREVERSIBLE, in that most of what will be talked about in the film is the one scene of brutal violence. In FAT GIRL's case, there's some (simulated) under-age sex too to cry about for all the morality-cops out there, but for the most part - the shock scenes are all that anyone's gonna notice. It's a shame too, as unlike IRREVERSIBLE which I found dull and with no real "point" - FAT GIRL's story of lost youth and innocence and familial discontent are universal concepts and were handled rather well until the completely disjointed and out-of-place ending. Now, I dig shock films way more than the average film viewer - but unfortunately the ending of FAT GIRL just seemed like a cheap cop-out to an otherwise decent film. Again, not a terrible film (hence my slightly above average rating) - but my disappointment in both the ending of the film and the hype I'd heard surrounding it, drop this one down several notches...6/10
Faces of Death IV: Supercilious French Movie
cngallo9 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
There is a reasonably well-acted and interesting movie here up until the shocking and grotesque final sequence. Further, make no mistake that the grotesque nature of this sequence alone is not the source of my criticism. For example, the violent scene in "La Historia Oficial" is quite jarring and cruel, but perfectly appropriate and powerful... in short, necessary. "Saving Private Ryan" is another example of over-the-top grotesquery and intimate violence that did not feel gratuitous. This movie does not accomplish anything near the seamless integration of these examples.
While I understand the role of the rape of the "fat girl" and would consider it powerful in isolation, the scene as a whole is powerful only as an exemplar of superfluousness. In fact, it seems to me that the tacked on violence does considerable damage to the painstakingly constructed emotion of the rest of the film. What can the viewer surmise from the juxtaposition of such graphic and senseless murder with the deceitful theft of an innocent girl's virginity but that the latter is natural, fairly harmless and ultimately insignificant? Is this meant to cheer up the jilted teenagers of the world by emphasizing that worse things can happen? Is it meant to liberate women from society's emphasis on their virginity? Either way the extended shot of a young girl's cracked skull and oozing brain does not seem necessary. Can I suggest that instead the "fat girl" should have been quietly raped while going to the bathroom at the rest stop and failed to report the crime? I think this would have been more powerful.
Without the unnecessary obscenity, this is a thoughtful, interesting study of the bond of sisterhood, girls coming of age, alienation and sexual liberation, which I would give a 6 out of 10.
While I understand the role of the rape of the "fat girl" and would consider it powerful in isolation, the scene as a whole is powerful only as an exemplar of superfluousness. In fact, it seems to me that the tacked on violence does considerable damage to the painstakingly constructed emotion of the rest of the film. What can the viewer surmise from the juxtaposition of such graphic and senseless murder with the deceitful theft of an innocent girl's virginity but that the latter is natural, fairly harmless and ultimately insignificant? Is this meant to cheer up the jilted teenagers of the world by emphasizing that worse things can happen? Is it meant to liberate women from society's emphasis on their virginity? Either way the extended shot of a young girl's cracked skull and oozing brain does not seem necessary. Can I suggest that instead the "fat girl" should have been quietly raped while going to the bathroom at the rest stop and failed to report the crime? I think this would have been more powerful.
Without the unnecessary obscenity, this is a thoughtful, interesting study of the bond of sisterhood, girls coming of age, alienation and sexual liberation, which I would give a 6 out of 10.
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