Fat Girl

( 4 )

Overview

Director Catherine Breillat, who courted international controversy with her film Romance, once again pushed the envelope with this disturbing (if somewhat less explicit) look at adolescent sexuality. Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is a 12-year-old girl with a weight problem and a downbeat disposition growing up in a family which offers her little in the way of understanding and affection. Anaïs has a typically adolescent love/hate relationship with her slimmer and prettier 15-year-old sister, Elena (Roxane Mesquida); she's...
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Blu-ray (Wide Screen / Subtitled)
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More About This Product

Overview

Director Catherine Breillat, who courted international controversy with her film Romance, once again pushed the envelope with this disturbing (if somewhat less explicit) look at adolescent sexuality. Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is a 12-year-old girl with a weight problem and a downbeat disposition growing up in a family which offers her little in the way of understanding and affection. Anaïs has a typically adolescent love/hate relationship with her slimmer and prettier 15-year-old sister, Elena (Roxane Mesquida); she's at once fascinated by her sister (and the boys who follow her around), and hates her for the love and attention she receives from others. While the family spends the summer at the beach, Elena attracts the attentions of Fernando (Libero de Rienzo), a college student from Italy who makes no secret of his attraction to Elena's budding sexuality. Anaïs, on the other hand, is forced to make do with a sad game in which she pretends that a ladder and a diving board at a neighborhood swimming pool are two suitors vying for her affections. Anaïs shares a room with Elena, and finds herself a fascinated, if troubled, witness as Fernando uses both charm and deceit to rob her sister of her virginity, while Elena is too naïve to see through the lies Fernando is spinning -- and enjoys having Anaïs as an audience for her steadily advancing sex play with Fernando. Anaïs is more aware than her older sister of Fernando's insincerity, but she finds Elena isn't eager to believe her.
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Special Features

Behind-the-Scenes Footage of the Making of Fat Girl; Two Video Interviews with Director Catherine Breillat, one conducted the night after the film's world premiere at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival, the other a look back at the film's production and alternate ending; ; French and U.S. Theatrical Trailers
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Adam Bregman
A downbeat tale about the tortures of adolescence, A Ma Soeur! goes well beyond most people's worst childhood experiences. Everybody in Anaïs' family dumps their problems on her, while constantly reminding her that she's a helpless, chubby girl who can't stop eating. The only halfway decent relationship that she has is with her sister, Elena, who has some affinity with her, even though Elena often degrades her, blames her for her own faults, and is forced to drag her around when she's hunting for men. Director Catherine Breillat expertly captures these awkward years in the dialogue between the two sisters, the sometimes uncomfortable sex scenes, and in Anaïs' anguished facial expressions. The sex scenes are lengthy, graphic, and portray underage sex, but this sort of stuff is becoming de rigueur for contemporary French cinema. All of the acting is excellent, from Libero de Rienzo's performance as the slimy, Italian college student who shows off to Elena about other girls he's used and then dumped, to Arsinee Khanjian, as the sisters' emotionally unstable, chain-smoking mom, to Anaïs Reboux's Anaïs, who seems to have no hope in this world. The ending of the film is certainly controversial with some critics lashing out against it. But undoubtedly this is French cinema at its most fearless, a film one thinks about, discusses, and does not forget.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 5/3/2011
  • UPC: 715515080217
  • Original Release: 2001

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Presentation: Wide Screen / Subtitled
  • Sound: DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound
  • Language: Français
  • Time: 1:26:00
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • Sales rank: 41,711

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Anaïs Reboux Anaïs
Roxane Mesquida Elena
Libero de Rienzo Fernando
Arsinée Khanjian Mother
Romain Goupil Father
Laura Betti Fernando's Mother
Technical Credits
Catherine Breillat Director, Screenwriter
Conchita Airoldi Co-producer
Georges Arvanitis Cinematographer
Pascale Chavance Editor
Françoise-Renaud Labarthe Production Designer
Jean-Francois Lepetit Producer
Jean Minondo Sound/Sound Designer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(1)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    WOW!!!

    This film was amazing. Despite the sex and graphic ending involving a young 12 year old girl....it was really good. I recommend it to anyone but not with those with sensitive stomachs.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Beautiful yet pointless.

    I usually enjoy french arthouse films, yet Fat Girl, despite the beautiful photography, is a pointless film with not much redeeming quality, and the ending is too random to have anything to do with the movie that I can see. Maybe the director had a point in mind, I just don't see it.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 1, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted August 19, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews