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The Movie: "Fat Girl" is French director Catherine Breillat's 2001 picture that polarized some audiences, as it was another controversial effort after the director's "Romance", which featured hardcore sex scenes. This film, which was banned in some countries upon release, focuses on a pair of sisters, Anais (Anaïs Reboux) and Elena (Roxane Mesquida). Anais is a somewhat overweight 13-year-old who doesn't share the romanticized notion of losing her virginity that her older sister, who is thin and considered more attractive, has. Despite their differences, the two share a pretty normal sisterhood, and the actresses make convincing sisters. The two girls are at their vacation house when the movie begins, and the girl's parents state that the older sister must always stick with the younger one. At a local restaurant, Elena meets Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), an older guy who she takes an immediate interest in. Anais's having to be connected to her sister continues with living arrangements, as the two stay in the same room together. This, unfortunately, results in Anais - who was thought to be sleeping - witnessing her sister being manipulated, as Fernando talks her into just about everything but losing her virginity. Despite some graphic moments of sexuality, Breillat has tried to de-eroticize the film's sexuality. The result is a definite tone of melancholy that rings throughout the whole film, further adding to the sorrow over Elena's lost - or stolen - innocence. The performances are excellent, as well. Both girls offer a natural, unforced performance and play sisters quite superbly. Unfortunately, there are issues with the film, most notably, its ending, which is disturbing, violent and unnecessary. At 86 minutes, the film also could have developed its characters (such as the parents) a little more. Breillat's style also results in the film feeling a bit cold and rather distant. The film does capture the tragedies that can occur during the teen years, but I thought the film could have filled out the story a bit more, while the ending really takes away from the film as a whole. Note: The film is unrated, but would almost certainly be NC-17. The DVD VIDEO: "Fat Girl" is presented by Criterion in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This new, high-definition transfer was created on a Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Criterion's presentation isn't flawless, but it's an awfully good effort. Sharpness and detail are one of the presentation's best aspects, as the image appeared consistently crisp, clean and well-defined. While fine details weren't always visible, they often were apparent. The presentation's only concern was the presence of some minor print flaws. These were nothing serious, just a few white specks that were noticed on a couple of occasions. No edge enhancement, pixelation or other faults were spotted. I'm guessing that the light grain I noticed in a few scenes is an intentional element of the photography. SOUND: "Fat Girl" is presented by Criterion in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The film's soundtrack is naturalistic and mainly front-heavy. While there isn't a whole lot of activity, it captures ambience and dialogue well - the sound remains crisp and clean, both on the equally fine Dolby Digital and DTS presentations. EXTRAS: We get two interviews with director Catherine Breillat that run for a total of a little over 20 minutes. There's also a brief making-of, trailers for the film and Criterion's usual well-done booklet. Final Thoughts: "Fat Girl" opens well, with a strongly acted (but disturbing) tale of two young girls finding themselves in the midst of an emotionally painful transition to adulthood. However, it starts to fall off in the second half, and the sudden, disturbing ending really takes away from the film. Criterion's DVD edition provides fine audio/video quality and a few supplements. Those interested in the controversial film may want to try it as a rental. 
Film Grade The Film ** 1/2 DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 88/B Extras: 72/C |