Review of Fat Girl (2001) by Marli S — 24 Apr 2009

The French do coming-of-age films better than anyone else on the planet, and Fat Girl is destined to be the one you'll never forget. Breillat gives us a brutally honest portrayal of female "baptism" into sexuality. The body is the focus of this film, its display, and the attempts to control it, whether by deciding how much you're going to eat, by seducing minors or by deciding to whom you'll offer your virginity. The younger 12-year-old sister, Anaïs is overweight and sullen. When the older of the sisters, Elena, meets an Italian college student, she begins to explore the boundaries of her own sexuality, with the younger sister onlooking. Breillat remembers well what Hell it is to be a teenager; to be confused, frustrated, to think low of yourself, to be ready to enter the world of sexual relationships, to be ready for love, for intimate closeness and to pretend that you don't care about them at all. Breillat has been compared to the Marquis de Sade, not in terms of S/M sex, but in the tone of her work regarding relationships (many people have never read de Sade. His work is about much more than bondage). To have a filmmaker as perceptive as her in this day and age is something we should all be grateful for. Thank you Mme Breillat.

P.S. Very violent, unexpected ending - be prepared.