Rent Fat Girl (2001)

Brave and provocative. - Fat Girl review by CP Customer

Genuinely edgy film-making by Breillat. She probes away at the viewer's assumptions about teeenage female sexuality, and about the casual cruelty of the bourgeois family unit.
The grudging tenderness between the sisters is the only true warmth on display. The opening dialogue between the pair sets up the calculated shock of the ending, which represents the most horrific irony.
This is provocative cinema at its best.

French film at cutting edge or at its worst? - Fat Girl review by JS

Thankfully a short film by French cinema standards but still too long

Girl meets boy - 15 minutes

Seduction/rape - 30 minutes

Family discussion - 10 minutes

Further rape - 10 minutes

Poor acting by his mother - 10 minutes

Motorway driving with limited speech - 10 minutes

Unconvincing murder - 10 minutes

No psychology, just brutalism and neopornography?

A provocative & genuinely unsettling look at first loves & sibling jealousy - Fat Girl review by Timmy B

Catherine Breillat is, without doubt, one of the most provocative filmmakers of the past few decades, which is made even more significant when you consider how few female writer/directors there have been. In a genre which is often extremely difficult to have success in, to be a woman and triumph in it is very rare. But she has also been the subject of controversy, mainly due to not only the frank depiction of sexuality in her work, but also allegations against her by actors she worked with.

Over the past few months, I have watched a few of her films, at first interested to see what she produces, but also because I enjoy watching films which are challenging, even if I don't particularly like them. Brief Crossing was an interesting premise which featured good performances, even if Breillat somewhat ruined the screenplay with the relentless man-bashing by the female protagonist. Then I watched Sex is Comedy, which was a satirical & often unflinching look at the massive difficulties of bringing Fat Girl to the screen. So to now watch the film which that film inspired is an interesting experience.

Anaïs Pingot (Reboux) is an overweight & awkward teenage girl who is on vacation with her family. She has a love/hate relationship with her sister Elena, who is everything she is not: thin, beautiful, attractive to boys and confident. On a walk into town, the pair run into Fernando (De Rienzo,) an Italian who instantly makes moves on Elena, isolating Anaïs. As the relationship progresses, Fernando pressures Elena to go further than she is comfortable to, also affecting Anaïs's bond with her sister.

As with a lot of Breillat's work, there is a huge amount of discussion about sexuality and the female perspective on this. The characters can at times be abrasive, but they are also original creations which makes it a refreshing change. What I enjoyed most was the examination of the relationship between the 2 sisters, as well as the boldness of their performances. There is no doubt that Roxane Mesquida has the tougher of the 2 roles, but her bravery & talent shines through. But this doesn't mean that Reboux is sidelined. Anaïs is the representation of so many people who have been left behind, socially isolated and outcast, and whose hurt speaks for those discarded by the tribe.

The ending is quite strange as well, but then this is a Catherine Breillat film, so you are never going to get conventionality and the characters walking off into the sunset happily ever after. For some, it is the most prevocative part of the film, however for me it left more questions than answers, which I have no doubt is exactly what she intended to happen.

If you are a fan or interested in Breillat's work, then there is much to interest you here. However I have no doubt that for many, the abrasiveness, idiosyncrasies and frank depictions of sex will put them off. But I am so glad that there are filmmakers like Breillat working today, who are actually trying to do something different.