A ma souer! Fat Girl
In the same way that some of us are fascinated by train wrecks and particularly gruesome accidents, there are some films that moviegoers have a hard time tearing themselves away from.And while the majority of such films are incompetently made, there are others, such as the French drama "A ma souer! (Fat Girl)," that suck in viewers with their stark, horrifying realism. What makes this film all the more horrifying is that it has a grain of truth (the film's fairly repellent final sequence is based on a real-life incident). And be warned, this film is extremely graphic in its depiction of teenage sexuality, and writer/director Catherine Breillat pulls no punches — especially where the ending is concerned — which is sure to turn off a lot of audiences.
Though its title actually means "For my sister," the film is also known by the title "Fat Girl," a rather insensitive reference to its lead character, Anais (Anais Reboux), a shy 12-year-old with weight issues. Anais is vacationing in Rome with her family and is being taunted by her rather worldly 15-year-old sister, Elena (Roxane Mesquida), who's much more popular with boys. In fact, Elena has begun seeing Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), a much older law student. Not to give too much of the film's shocking plot away, but that relationship, as well as a running feud between the two girls, seems likely to end in tragedy.
Filmmaker Catherine Breillat's screenplay does have its ponderous moments — including a lengthy dialogue sequence between the two sisters that is not only heavy-handed but which doesn't sound very natural. Still, this is newcomer Reboux's film to make or break, and her brave, ultimately heartbreaking performance makes the movie quite watchable in spite of its obvious flaws.
"A ma souer! (Fat Girl)" is not rated but would probably receive an NC-17 for full male and female nudity, fairly graphic sex scenes, scattered use of strong profanity, a scene depicting rape, violence (assaults against women), some crude and sexually explicit talk and brief gore. Running time: 82 minutes.
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