Numerootno
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
Bluebell Alcock
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Maz Murdoch (asda-man)
Sex-obsessed director, Catherine Breillat has only gone and done another film about sex! Well, actually Fat Girl is over a decade old now so she's done a few more sex-related films which I'm yet to see. In fact, Fat Girl is my very first taste of Catherine Breillat and I'll definitely be tucking in for more if they're all as tasty as this one. For those who don't know, Fat Girl tells the story of a chubby 12 year-old gal and her sexy fifteen year-old sister who may as well be called Lolita.The film is pretty short and simplistic but it definitely leaves a lasting impression. I suspect that most people would find it boring because the scenes are extremely long and drawn out. The longest bit must be the extended foreplay scene in which Lolita and her fancy man are on the verge of doing the dirty deed. Not one moment of the film bored me though. I found myself sucked into its atmosphere of stark realism and drawn to the engaging characters.I was also really impressed with the young actors. Anaïs Reboux who plays the fat girl in question was particularly enthralling. It's important to bear in mind that she was only twelve years-old at the time of filming and it's a fairly challenging role to play which deals with adolescence, sexuality and sibling rivalry. There's a lovely tender moment between the two siblings where they lay on the bed and joke together. It feels very genuine and just goes to show how brilliant the two actresses are and how realised their characters are.The film builds up to an awkward car journey which ends in a genuinely unexpected and shocking way. Many people have condemned the ending for being shocking for the sake of it; however I don't think that's true. If you pay attention to the first 70 minutes you'll spot a lot of foreshadowing and find that it actually has a lot of meaning which is important to the overall story. I think it's just the sudden change in tone which people find jarring and off-putting. I'm all for unpredictability though.Quite a lot of people also complain that the film is basically child pornography masquerading as art. The BBFC even cut the DVD release of the film "relating to potential harm, to address the specific danger that video enables the scene to be used to stimulate and validate abusive action." I'd disagree. The scene in question isn't gratuitous (I watched the uncut Australian version) and in my unprofessional opinion isn't harmful or erotic to the rational human mind. It's also very important to the themes of the story.Prudes should also note that the sexy sister was actually eighteen years-old at the time of filming and that the erect penis is actually prosthetic! It is a graphic film, but it is also a film all about sex and sex does tend be to be graphic. I'm not sure why people get so disgusted about graphic sex scenes in films. We all have sex in real life so why is watching it on a screen so repulsive? Anywho, Fat Girl is not a porn film. It is an interesting story about sexual awakening. It's beautifully acted and directed, and also has a wonderfully immersive atmosphere. I'd particularly recommend it to fans of the new French extremity and European art films.
IndieMovieBuff008
Fat Girl is a very different kind of movie. Anais is the "fat girl" of the movie and she loves to eat. She watches her beautiful sister Elena get involved with and get seduced by a suitor. All Anais wants is to lose her virginity too. When she makes out with an imaginary boyfriend in the swimming pool, it is heart-breaking. The actors are all stunning all around. The ending, like the synopsis said, is shocking and controversial. I think it is fitting because real life is never predicted. All the events and reasonings we are all lead up to are believable because Anais never hides who she is and what she wants. Fat Girl is a movie that was never seen by the masses but lucky it is now available on DVD. I would never want to watch it more than once, but I recommend everybody to see it at least once.
groggo
Breillat is superb at filming endless debates on sex beds in the guise of human sexual 'profundity'. You won't be denied your dose of excess if you see this typical piece of Breillat pretentiousness. One sex scene on a bed between the two young lovers goes on for almost 30 minutes! And after this nonsense, you're only slightly more familiar with what the characters are about (we already know what they're about anyway; this 'plot' is not very difficult to understand).If these were Bergmanesque or Rohmeresque glacier-like sex scenes (i.e. if they illuminated the 'study' of the characters or propelled the narrative) I could forgive writer/director Breillat. But she does the opposite. This is the fourth of her films that I've seen (I kept thinking I'd missed something brilliant). I'm now fully convinced that she's a flat-out sensationalist voyeur, and commits the deadly sin of being deliberately controversial. In my opinion, she does this because her talent is, well, limited.Breillat's films are loaded with dialogue, which is a shame because she simply doesn't have very much to say. She paints all of her films around sex, and that becomes a pretty flimsy canvas very quickly.
Meganeguard
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.
