‘Fat Girl’: Catherine Breillat’s shocking tale of male violence and female sexuality
It’s not easy to grow up; cinema has taught us that for decades. From The 400 Blows to Lady Bird, many filmmakers have tried to convey the pains caused by issues that feel like the worst things in the world when you’re not yet an adult. Whether that be unrequited love or feeling misunderstood by parents, good coming-of-age movies treat these feelings with understanding and complexity. Then there are the filmmakers who take a look at adolescence from a considerably more uncompromising angle, like Catherine Breillat, whose 2001 film Fat Girl or À ma sœur! presents a challenging and heartbreaking look at girlhood.
The movie follows two sisters, 12-year-old Anais and Elena, a few years older. While holidaying near the coast with their family, they discuss love and sex, opening up the movie’s dialogue on the adolescent discovery of female sexuality. Although they’re young, both of them know what they want: Elena is waiting to lose her virginity to a man who she really likes, while Anais thinks it would be better to get the first time out of the way with a stranger who she doesn’t have to worry about seeing again.
It doesn’t take Elena long to find a man to rendezvous with, Fernando, an older student who is only interested in using her for sex. He’s manipulative, charming her into bed – the one just inches away from where Anais is sleeping. But, of course, Anais is not asleep; she’s watching everything and is fascinated by this encounter – a quiet voyeur. Soon enough, Anais becomes uncomfortable, realising that this is hardly a consensual situation. Elena is scared, but she wants to impress Fernando. She revokes her consent at the last minute, not ready to jump into the deep end just yet.
He pressures her, threatening to break things off if she doesn’t let him have sex with her. It’s painful to watch; Breillat forces us to witness this situation play out, with the camera flicking back to Anais every so often to convey the heightened feelings of tension within the room. The scene is claustrophobic and distressing, but Breillat knows she needs to show Fernando’s behaviour to truly communicate how sexual violence and male entitlement occur. Even in the supposed safety of Elena and Anais’ bedroom, with a man she believes to be charming, attractive and smart, Elena isn’t safe. She is manipulated by him, unable to fully recognise that she’s just been raped because of his behaviour, which switches between threatening and dominant to kind and witty.
Breillat contrasts the two sisters – Anais is overweight, while Elena is conventionally pretty. It’s clear that Anais envies Elena’s ability to attract boys, while she’s left feeling unattractive and unwanted. Anais’ experiences are defined by a mix of jealousy and envy with fear and anxiety. The two have been exposed to the adult sexual world too soon, and their experiences prove to be anything but romantic. As Elena gets more attached to Fernando, her parents’ discovery of an engagement ring leads to the holiday’s termination. From here, we enter the final section of the film, which takes a darker and unexpected twist.
As Anais and Elena’s mother drive the car on the motorway during the night, she must dodge lorry drivers constantly trying to overtake or dominate her on the road – a clear metaphor for patriarchal supremacy and men’s attempts to overpower women. This, sadly, foreshadows the film’s tragic end. When they pull over at a rest stop for a quick nap, they become victims of a random act of senseless male violence. Anais is the only one who comes out alive, with the stranger instead taking her into the woods and raping her.
In a twisted turn of events, Anais’ wishes from the start of the movie are realised, just with a lot more brutality. After she emerges from the event and speaks to the police, she is adamant that she wasn’t raped, reflecting her heartbreaking view on sex and violence. She cannot comprehend that she’s been abused – she doesn’t feel virginal and unwanted anymore; no longer does she feel inferior to her sister.
Breillat’s film forces us to consider the ways that male violence is incited. The dramatic and unexpected act that occurs at the end of the film will shock viewers the most, yet the filmmaker is asking us to consider it in relation to the acts of sexual violence that occur between Elena and Fernando. While these scenes are less violent, they’re no less abusive. Breillat dissects the ways that men can cause women pain for their own heinous benefit, emphasising how senseless their behaviour can be. Fat Girl is a difficult yet vital watch which communicates the everyday horrors of growing up as a woman and the normalisation of male abuse and oppression.
