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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
À Ma Soeur! (Fat Girl/For My Sister) (2001)

À Ma Soeur! (Fat Girl/For My Sister) (2001)

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Released 30-Jul-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Main Menu Audio & Animation
Biographies-Crew-Catherine Breillat
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer-Kandahar; All Over The Guy; Divided We Fall; The Circle
Trailer-The Closet; No Man's Land; Lumumba; The Piano Teacher
Trailer-Romance
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 82:39 (Case: 93)
RSDL / Flipper RSDL (58:34) Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Catherine Breillat
Studio
Distributor
Potential Films
Madman Entertainment
Starring Anaïs Reboux
Roxane Mesquida
Libero De Rienzo
Arsinée Khanjian
Romain Goupil
Case Click
RPI ? Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None French Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures Yes
Subtitles English Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

    À Ma Soeur! (For My Sister) is a film about two sisters and a summer romance, and its consequences during a family holiday.

    Elena is a young fifteen-year-old girl who is just discovering her sexuality. While on a holiday with her family Elena meets Fernando, an Italian University student in his second year. He quickly charms his way into her heart and Elena learns a valuable lesson about love. Constantly by her side is Elena's younger sister Anaïs, with whom she has a love-hate relationship. Anaïs does not share her sister's attractive looks, but she has a more realistic view of relationships. When the family learn of the extent of Elena's relationship their reaction will have unforeseen consequences.

    This film was written and directed by controversial French filmmaker Catherine Breillat (Romance, Sex Is Comedy). When released theatrically in this country the name was changed to Fat Girl. Thankfully, the original title has been restored for this release. Examining the director's familiar themes of love, sex, and relationships, the film contains excellent performances by the two young lead actors. Unfortunately, I found that the second half of the film seemed to lose some of the movie's initial momentum and direction. Despite this small problem the film still contains enough to sustain a viewer's interest throughout and will be enjoyed by fans of Catherine Breillat's work.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer often appears to be slightly soft, but this is most likely due to the original source material and not a fault of the transfer. No low-level noise was detected at any time during the transfer. During the numerous dark scenes only average levels of shadow detail are displayed but this appears to be due to the original source material and is only minimally distracting.

    The colour palette appears to be slightly muted but this is never disturbing.

    No MPEG artefacts were detected at any time.

    There are a number of aliasing artefacts, some examples of which may be seen at 2:50, 39:42, 64:49, 65:05 and 70:28. Due to their short duration these artefacts are only slightly disruptive.

    There are a small number of minor film artefacts - some examples of these may be seen at 4:46, 5:49, 13:06, 13:40 and 31:46. All of these artefacts are very minor and only minimally annoying. Some obvious minor film grain may be seen during the transfer but this is never irritating.

    A single set of yellow English subtitles is provided during the transfer and I found them to be easy to read at all times.

    The layer change occurs at 58:33 at the start of chapter eight during a scene change and is only minimally disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    A single French Dolby Digital 448 kbps 2.0 surround soundtrack is provided on this disc.

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected at any time.

    The score is used very minimally throughout the film and never draws attention to itself.

    The surround channel was used minimally throughout the transfer to support the score and the occasional effect.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu

    The minimally animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.

Catherine Breillat Biography

    This is a five-page biography for controversial writer/director Catherine Breillat.

Trailer: Romance (0:47)

    This trailer may be accessed from the fourth page of the Catherine Breillat biography. It is presented with a French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: À Ma Soeur! (1:15)

    This trailer is presented with a French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: Kandahar (1:24)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: All Over The Guy (2:10)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Trailer: Divided We Fall (1:58)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Trailer: The Circle (1:10)

    This trailer is presented with an Iranian Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: The Closet (1:17)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

Trailer: No Mans Land (2:05)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: Lumumba (1:32)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: The Piano Teacher (2:26)

    This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This disc does not appear to be currently available in region 1.

Summary

    À Ma Soeur! is an interesting examination about the discovery of love and sex and it contains excellent performances by the lead actors.

    The video transfer is high quality and displays no significant artefacts.

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 surround soundtrack is suitable for this dialogue-driven film.

    The minimal extras included provide some background information on this interesting and controversial director.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Anthony Kable (read my bio)
Friday, September 20, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba 2109, using S-Video output
DisplaySony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationFront left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged)
SpeakersFront left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259

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