À Ma Soeur! (Fat Girl/For My Sister) (2001) |
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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 |
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Rating | |||
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 |
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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 |
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.
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.
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Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
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Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The minimally animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced.
This is a five-page biography for controversial writer/director Catherine Breillat.
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.
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.
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.
This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
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.
This trailer is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |