neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Fat Girl
	Catherine Breillat Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida 2001		Say this for French director Catherine Breillat. She's consistent: Her previous film, "Romance," set off a storm of controversy for its explicit exploration of raw, hardcore sexuality. "Fat Girl," her cold-eyed portrait of two sisters in the throes of pubescence during their family's summer vacation, is also a model of cruel, carnal frankness. It's a shocker that deserves notice. Chubby Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is constantly belittled by her precocious older sister, beautiful, slim Elena (Roxane Mesquida). Elena, who gets off on teasing would-be suitors, flaunts her relative maturity and attractiveness, but she gets in over her head when an older boy, an Italian law student, seduces her. The graphic sex scenes between Elena and her holiday fling, painfully observed by Anaïs, may upset some viewers. The contentious relationship between the sisters, exacerbated by their parents' tacit endorsement of Elena and offhand criticism of Anaïs, is far more disturbing, as is the movie's unexpected, shattering climax.