Movie review: Fat Girl (A Ma Soeur!), 2001

[origenzero1]

Then again, the film is Goddarian in the sense that the ending is ambiguous. The romantic Elena loses her virginity in a beautiful way whereas the cynical Anais loses it in an extremely ugly way...

[origenzero1]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think Breillat is saying all heterosexual sex is like rape...

[origenzero1]

The film is superlative in every sense of the word but I take issue to the philosophical point she makes with her ending. The film is very Goddarian and very Marxist with a Feminist slant. "Dworkin-esque" if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, the ending is perfect but the film's message is offensive as it relates to sex. The way Elena loses her virginity is beautiful despite all the lies--the ending is not comparable at...

[pappysmp]

I saw a kitty in there. mmm or a dog or.....????

[CinemaDemocratica]

@pappysmp Lots and lots of cats, over hee-ah. ;-)

[gonz930]

Great film & great review.

I was left a little confused in the end - the very last sequence didn't seem to fit with the very introspective themes of the movie. I wish they would have spent just a few more minutes concluding Anais' character arc reacting to the aftermath.

[CinemaDemocratica]

@gonz930 Thanks for the compliment; I want to remake this one now that I know how to do these a little better; check out what I've done with *Revanche* or *I Stand Alone* to see the improvement. I too found the ending arrestingly dissonant -- but I'd come to expect that from Breillat and, accordingly, I almost would've been disappointed. That being said, I'd have bet money that Anais was going to strangle her sister to death from the back seat, and that her mom was going to sit by while she did.

[cctps]

Great review, but her name's French, it's pronounced like 'Bray-ah'

[CinemaDemocratica]

@cctps Yeah, I don't know what got into me -- especially as someone who grew up near Montreal. I had this bizarre head-cramp in which I convinced myself that a double-L in French is pronounced, while a single L isn't. ...Which, if you're keeping score at home is, um... hang on a sec... *wrong*. :-)

[CinemaDemocratica]

I promise they'll get better.