À ma soeur! (2001), called Fat Girl in the US, and correctly translated For My Sister in Australia, is from controversial director Catherine Breillat (Romance). True to her style, she presents a frank look at two sisters, and their sexual awakening, that most will find unsettling. Anaïs (Anaïs Reboux) is 13, and chubby, because when something is eating at her, she eats, and she lives in the shadow of her older sister, Elena (Roxane Mesquida). Elena is 15, and a perfect Lolita. Everything comes easy to her. As the film opens, the family is vacationing on the French coast, and the sisters are walking into town. Elena bets that she can hook a guy before her sister. She is confident that all she has to do is walk through a sidewalk cafe, and some hunk will invite them to his table.

She is absolutely right. She starts a relationship with collage junior Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), an Italian law student, and before long, sneaks him into the bedroom she shares with her sister. Sister gets to watch as he tries to seduce her, using every trick a young man knows, including telling her that it is a natural expression of loving him, and then telling her she is forcing him to date an older girl just for sex, even though he doesn't want to. She finally consent to anal intercourse, as he convinces her it doesn't count, and she will still be a virgin.

She wants to save herself for the right guy, and then only after a long courtship. Her sister feels like her virginity is something to get out of the way before she meets someone that matters. Of course, being 13 and fat, she hasn't had any offers. Fernando finally gives Elena an expensive opal ring, telling her they are engaged, and she decides to go all the way, again, with her sister in the room. At the moment of climax, we don't see the couple, but the sister, crying, as she sees through the guy, and knows her older sister is being taken advantage of.

I won't say much about act three, as some of you will want to see this film, and it goes somewhere quite unexpected. Fernando's mother comes to the house, and demands the family heirloom ring that her son stole. Elena's parents now know everything that has happened, and this ends the vacation. Workaholic dad has flown home, and their mother (Arsinée Khanjian), is to drive the three of them home.

Roxane Mesquida looks every bit the ripe 15 year old, and shows breasts and bush in two sex scenes. The chubby Anaïs Reboux shows her breasts primping in front of a mirror. I watched a Region 2 PAL DVD, and I don't believe it is available in Region one yet.

IMDB readers say 6.7 of 10. Breillat won an award in Berlin, and was nominated for another Golden Bear. Ebert says 3 1/2 stars, and Berardinelli 3. It received 71% positive at Rotten Tomatoes, and 88% from the top critics. I was fascinated by the honest look at teenage sexuality, and the love/hate relationship between the two very different sisters. The film looks great, in that it has some nice scenery, is well lit, and features a very lovely woman, showing most of her assets. I think we will see a lot more of Roxane Mesquida, and I look forward to it. While I found Romance not a lot better than any other hard core film, Breillat showed me something unique here, and did it very well. On the other hand, it is partially character driven, and in French with subtitles, which probably accounts for the low box office ($681K). So, while it is an excellent film, the correct score is probably C+.

LANCE BASS GETS NEW OFFER FROM TED NUGENT
That's A Real Catgut Guitar - Ted Nugent has an offer for 'N Sync's Lance Bass to help him get over not going into space. Ted said that for just $1 million, he'll invite Bass to his Michigan ranch, take him into the woods and teach him bow-hunting. Nugent said Bass needs to forget about space and learn to appreciate nature here on Earth by hunting, killing, cleaning and cooking his own food. He said he'll even throw in a few guitar lessons.

MADONNA TURNS MODEST
No Reason To See It Now - Madonna's director husband Guy Ritchie says he cut most of the nudity out of their remake of "Swept Away" because "I don't want my missus naked all over the place." He said he also cut the violence and sodomy from the 1974 original because "buggery is no longer in fashion like it used to be." Madonna seems happy with the changes. Now a married mom of two, she says she's become very spiritual and "I'm not particularly fond of kissing strange men".

TV SHOW SEEKS TALENTLESS LOSER TO TURN INTO POP STAR
Flop Idol - The British morning TV show "RI:SE" is holding a contest in reaction to all the current pop idol-making shows. Producer Deborah Turness said they want to show that most current stars are manufactured, so they are looking for the most untalented person in the U.K., people who can't sing or dance and who look like a dog's dinner. The one judged worst will be trained to sing and dance and booked into a top venue, to see if he or she isn't indistinguishable from today's pop stars.