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FAT GIRL
Directed & Written by: Catherine Breillat.
Produced by: Jean-François Lepetit.
Director of Photography: Yorgos Arvanitis.
Edited by: Pascale Chavance.
Released by: Criterion Collection.
Language: French with English subtitles.
Country of Origin: France. 86 min. Not Rated.
With: Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero de Rienzo, Arsinée Khanjian & Romain Goupil.
DVD Features: Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of Fat Girl. Two interviews with the director, including the alternate ending. Trailers. High-definition digital transfer. Essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and an interview with Breillat from the French film magazine Positif.

Brash, aggressive, meaningful, and yet ultimately absurd, Fat Girl is so intensely polarizing that it leaves no room for neutrality. Overweight Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is a heartbreakingly self-conscious 12-year-old girl who lives in the shadow of her blossoming older sister, Elena, who has fallen in love with Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), a smooth-talking lothario. When he sneaks into the girls' bedroom at night, Anaïs listens in painful detail to her sister's sexual initiation. In this scene and others, the film is so upfront and candid that it creates an uncomfortable viewing experience.

The ending of Fat Girl was the subject of much criticism. Some of it was appreciatory, most was loathsome. What happens to the characters defies any inkling of foreshadowing (despite what some may argue) so that the viewer initially refuses to accept what is happening. Breillat takes her film in a direction that doesn't so much contradict everything that comes before it but instead forcibly undermines the true heart of the film, Anaïs’ growing self-awareness.

Anais Reboux and Roxane Mesquida are impressively strong in roles that would otherwise seem awkward for girls their age, especially Reboux, whose painful perception that she is not (and probably never will be) of the same physical beauty as Elena is quite moving. Her performance is unflinching and the film's strong point.

DVD Extras: The extras are fairly slim for a film that screams out for such extensive critical analysis. Aside from a short behind-the-scenes look at the actual filming process, there are two interviews with director Catherine Breillat. In one, she talks of working with young actors and the unique diligence of stars Reboux and Mesquida. The other is taken from the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival, and it features Breillat discussing her outlook on the female filmmaker as well as the sexual tendencies of her own films. Also included is the complimentary essay on Breillat's work from Sight & Sound by Ginette Vincendeau. Michael Belkewich
December 22, 2004