Every now and again, I will watch something that sort of stumps me in a way. When you branch out to watch films that are foreign and you know nothing about them, they can kick you in the ass if you aren’t ready. I wasn’t ready for the content within Fat Girl as it unfolded, but I’m definitely impressed by the sheer filmmaking from Catherine Breillat.
Anaïs Reboux plays Anaïs, a 13-year-old and Roxane Mesquida plays her 15-year-old sister named Elena. They have a really strange love/hate relationship that Elena takes advantage of frequently. They’re on vacation with their clueless parents, who don’t care until it’s brought to their attention what Elena has been up to when they aren’t looking. A massive chunk of Fat Girl is brutally uncomfortable due to its sexual content and very raw dialogue. The ending of the film is completely out of left field and caused me to nearly jump off the couch, but I still feel sort of dirty after watching it. There’s a battle in my head constantly happening when it comes to films like Fat Girl. It's a tough story to talk about, but I can’t deny that there is some really solid filmmaking going on. It is certainly not a film for everyone and it is not a film I will be rewatching, but I might give one of Breillat’s films a chance because she clearly has serious talent. |