Fat Girl CC (No, really)
 

Why all the hate for Fat Girl? So many critics have praised this film and it certainly sounds interesting. Is it the title? Have any of the haters actually seen the film? I don't know why this has suddenly turned into the laughing stock of the Criterion Collection around here.

It's a very divisive film; it seems people really like it or really loathe it, with few middlers.. also, your rhetorical question about whether or not the "haters" have even seen the film is rather presumptuous. In a Criterion discussion, it's usually obvious that any debate involves the sort of people who would appreciate such obscure films - and so would be smart enough to SEE a film before dismissing it. A lot of people simply don't like Fat Girl. A lot of people do like it. A lot of people like pizza. A lot of people don't.

Re: Fat Girl CC (No, really)
 

:confused: I thought that ARMAGEDDON was the laughing stock of Criterion? ;)

Really? It's been my experience that most Criterion discussions revolve around spine numbers and tracking down rare OOP titles that the collectors have to interest in watching or even opening.

:)

I've noticed that those sort of posts get a :rolleyes: and are dismissed.

Too bad, CC version is cut this time, 86 mins.

What is Fat Girl?

Liar! Everyone likes pizza. Some people are just afraid to admit it.

Yes, I have seen it, and I thought that it was really overrated.

It's A ma soeur! another much ado about nothing "provocative" film by the extremely overrated Catherine Breillat.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243255/

I'm anxious to see it with all the debate. A film that causes this much of a stir is definately worthy of a viewing.

This supercedes my first impulse of just buying it, looking at the spinde number and resting it on the shelf with a loving nudge.

well count me as one of the few who actually liked this film... so, get over it.

Count me in as a fan, too. The film is an incredible experience and has an amazing open-ended finale.

I have a sense that people who made comic asides to the film, with nary a comment in some other thread have not seen the film.

I stated in another forum, when the announcement that criterion would release the film on DVD, the following:

Fat Girl is a fine film! It says much more than the superficial surface of things. In fact, the simpler any film seems, the more it really has to say. It is actually quite open to interpretation, which has left many with various opinions of it. It’s a rare film that has very vocal detractors and supporters. Plus, it has one of the most shocking scenes in cinematic history. The whole film could be seen as a build-up to that final scene, one might say, and you could actually get away with saying that and still say the film has much depth. It filled me with such a rush of emotions and thoughts. Catherine Breillat is a daring, underrated voice in cinema, and I'm delighted to see her finally preserved on a Criterion disc.

None of this is actually in FAT GIRL.

This is quitre an ignorant remark. What exactly of your "none" is not in the film?

Pro-B

Breillat's only goal is to shock. There is no depth, every aspect of this film is superficial. All one is left with is a scandalously boring exercise in empty theorizing.

It's only redeeming value is that it's better than Romance. But that's not saying much. :)

The film means as much as one wants to put into it. Like any good piece of art, this film lends itself to interpretation. If you can see deeper than the superficial aspects of it, then it only says something about one’s intellect… and vice-versa.

The finale of the film does not change what happens before the film, which is the dynamic characterization of a family with layers of problems, not unlike most families. It’s a dark and complex family portrait, maybe a little too complex for American audiences, really. Sometimes it’s hard to look into the dark intimate side of things, but I think foreign films do it much better than American films.

Also, let me add, I was quite offended by the film when I first saw it. I’ll never forget dozing a bit by the end, and then that shocking scene slammed in my face with a brutal force I was totally caught off guard by. The guy next to me actually screamed aloud: “Oh, My God!” lol Pretty damn impactful, but, still, I felt gypped that day. Then, I got into discussing the film, and found a fresh perspective for me on the film’s ending: what if that never happened? What if that scene happened in the little fat girl’s own mind? Yes, it’s a fantasy! In the end, that made the whole rest of the film resonate much deeper for me, and it also seemed consistent to the character. Breillat has made it a point not to talk about the film’s ending in order to leave it open to interpretation. She is also known for crafting film with a surreal, oneric bent. This is not that far removed from her aesthetic.

Bottom line, if you like stuff by David Cronenberg or Peter Greenaway—even Stanley Kubrick, you should like this film. Heck, Gasper Noe fans would love it, too—on a superficial level most seem to take this film for (Even though I would be the first to say Noe’s Irreversible is pure visceral, shock cinema).

Oh, Scott Shelton, your post would be more accurate if you had stated that "you personally saw none this" in Fat Girl. The film experience can be a very subjective experience, if the film is made right (i.e. sans all that exposition we get in Hollywood film).

Speaking of intellect, that's just silly. I think you're seeing "depth" where there is none to be found but hey, that's just my opinion.

eXcentris, I do not understand why you only chose my references to other directors who also explore ways of disturbing the Hollywood law of narrative to present films that are a much more subjective experience to call my intellectualizing of Fat Girl silly. I think I offer plenty of intellectual substance in the rest of my post. I think an open mind will indeed find depth to this movie, a characteristic of the viewer that appreciates films by David Cronenberg , Peter Greenaway and Stanley Kubrick, who are not necessarily to be linked thematically, but rather with what they do with narrative.

Not to say eXentris is one of those, but I think a lot of filmgoers expect film to present a realistic picture of the world, when inherently film cannot. Recognizing film’s characteristic inability to do so, whether consciously or not, a director and a filmgoer and take film into a world of deeper meaning and metaphor. How else can film rise above a simple hour and half of diversion, distraction or entertainment? I think all the directors I have mentioned including Breillat can be linked thusly and that’s all I meant by that comparison.

Uh huh.

By that logic, Carrot Top's CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD is the deepest, most intellectually complex film ever made. Who'da thunk it?

I meant simple in the minimal sense of art not simple as in simplistic, Count_Zero. You are spinning my word to mean its countrary. You are also demonstrating how one gets whatever one puts into a text, be it film or a post on a message board.

I understand what you are saying. I just think that you are give Breillat far too much credit.

...very well said.

Pro-B

Honestly, I didn't care that much for this film. I certainly understood what Breillat was trying to do with it, but it just didn't do much for me. I guess I'm just not as fascinated with the burgeoning sexuality of adolescent girls as she is, but that really seems to be the only thing she can make films about. There were some fine performances, and I wouldn't discourage someone from seeing it, but I'd probably only give it ***/*****, in other words, slightly better than average. But it's in no way the worst film in the Criterion Collection.

I didn't find it on Criterion's website but Image has the release date as Oct 19th.