Fat Girl (2001)

Two sisters confront their sexual attitudes and experiences while on a family holiday.

Director:

Catherine Breillat

Writer:

Catherine Breillat

Stars:

Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero De Rienzo

4 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anaïs Reboux	...	Anaïs Pingot
Roxane Mesquida	...	Elena Pingot
Libero De Rienzo	...	Fernando
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Mother
Romain Goupil	...	François Pingot / Father
Laura Betti	...	Fernando's Mother
Albert Goldberg	...	The Killer
Odette Barrière	...	Friend at Residence
Ann Matthijsse	...	Friend at Residence
Pierre Renverseau	...	Friend at Residence
Jean-Marc Boulanger	...	Friend at Residence
Frederick Bodin	...	Waiter
Michel Guillemin	...	Janitor
Josette Cathalan	...	Saleswoman
Claude Sésé	...	Police Officer (as Claude Sese)

Storyline

A Ma Soeur! is a provocative and shocking drama about sibling rivalry, family discord and relationships. Elena is 15, beautiful and flirtatious. Her less confident sister, Anais, is 12, and constantly eats. On holiday, Elena meets a young Italian student who is determined to seduce her. Anais is forced to watch in silence, conspiring with the lovers, but harbouring jealousy and similar desires. Their actions, however, have unforeseen tragic consequences for the whole family.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | breasts | violence | teenage girl | sexuality | 

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Taglines:

A new provocation from the director of "Romance"

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French Italian English

Release Date:

7 March 2001 (France)

Also Known As:

Fat Girl

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$31,237, 14 October 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$724,116, 23 March 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arte France Cinéma, CB Films, Canal+

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anaïs Reboux's mother lied to her about her dog dying in order to get her to cry for the crying scenes.

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Goofs

[All goofs for this title are spoilers.]

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Quotes

[last lines]
Police Officer: She says he took her in the woods, but he didn't rape her.
Anaïs Pingot: If you don't want to believe me, then don't.

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Alternate Versions

Although the UK theatrical version is uncut, the BBFC ordered the DVD version (released by Tartan Video) to be cut in order to achieve an "18" rating. 88 seconds were cut from a scene near the ending which depicts the rape of a 12-year old girl, as the BBFC claims the home version can be used "as part of the process of child abuse". The Australian DVD is uncut.

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Connections

Featured in Indie Sex: Teens (2007)

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Soundtracks

Vene Carnevale
Music by Pierluigi Balducci
Music by Aldo De Palma & Franco Quatela
Performed by Tavernanova
Published by Compagnia Nuove Indye (Italy) & Jaune Citron (France)
Used with the kind permission of Compagnia Nuove Indye (Italy)

User Reviews

Sets Us Aside

Brelliat drives me a little crazy. She is an observer of one small corner of life and seems incidentally a filmmaker. You get different editions of her observations on the distance of young sex across which we throw ropes.

So the question is which is the best and whether each one that follows adds something new, worthwhile.

The best to my mind was "A Real Young Girl" of thirty years ago. It had an honesty that everything subsequently lacks. By this I mean you could feel the filmmaker's emotions quite apart from whatever was happening on screen.

What we have here are two scenes. The first is hugely promising: a pretty girl loses her virginity while witnessed by her much younger sister. Drawn out circling of the boy. Set up in a way that we share in the discomfort as witness and some of the charm of the situation. We are seducer, voyeur, victim.

Brelliat knew this well enough to build a whole different movie about the nature of this voyeurism, "Sex is Comedy." You need to see the two together to get the folding.

The problem with Brelliat is that she has these emotional insights and she can pose scenes. But she has no skill at all in seeing the larger shape of the narrative. She doesn't understand the long form and the structure of a story. Lacking this, we get only scenes, and here we have only two. The second one is brutal, as if the first demanded the second.

The only thing to recommend this is the effect you get from watching the first scene. You quickly realize that because you are watching, you are part of the damage she sketches.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.