At first, Catherine Breillat's movie about sisterhood and sexual awakening appears to be one of those sophisticated French character studies in which nothing much happens throughout and for much of the film's brief running time, this is the case. However, having carried us along a familiar if somewhat darker than usual path, Breillat fashions a climax that is as violent and shocking as it is unexpected and cryptic. This climax, and the film's stark portrayal of teenage sex are the film's main talking points, and have perhaps served to earn it more of a reputation than it deserves; one can only speculate on Breillat's motives for choosing to end her film in a manner that is so at odds to the rest of the film's content.
Sexy, vivacious Elena (Roxanne Mesquida) and plump, pasty Anais (Anais Pingot) are sisters who are polar opposites, both physically and emotionally. At fifteen, Elena is already the focus of men's desires; she has a highly naïve and romanticised view of sex and more specifically of how she wishes to lose her virginity: she wishes it to be a declaration of and testimony to the love she shares with her partner. Anais, a couple of years younger than her sister, but far wiser and level-headed, would prefer to lose hers to a stranger, a man who means nothing to her, instinctively understanding that the physical act is less important than the emotional attachment of love. It has to be said that this is pretty adult thinking for a 12/13-year-old, but serves to demonstrate the differences between the sisters that leads to the events that follow.
While on holiday, the sisters meet an older Italian boy, Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), and within minutes Elena and Fernando are swapping spit while Anais gorges herself on a banana split. One night, Fernando creeps into the girls' bedroom and, in a quietly devastating scene that is all the more powerful for its matter-of-factness, begs and cajoles Elena into having sex with him. Elena finally agrees to anal sex while Anais feigns sleep in the bed across the room. The following night, frightened of losing Fernando, Elena agrees to full sex. When their liaison is discovered, the girls' mother (Arsinee Khanjian) angrily cuts short their holiday, and the three embark on an ill-fated journey home.
A Ma Soeur is a slow, deliberately paced film that takes the time to fully explore the relationship between Elena and Anais, and the ways in which each react toward their own burgeoning sexuality. The depiction of this relationship is one of the stronger, more believable, aspects of the film. Elena is, by turns, cruel and kind toward her little sister (although, apart from a wonderfully staged scene in which the sister's share an intimate moment recalling shared memories, all these displays of affection are either when the girls are alone, or to serve her own purposes), while Anais wastes no opportunity to remind Elena of what a bitch she is. Despite this, there is an unbreakable bond between the two girls that is acknowledged by neither of them. Anais' own sexual awakening is inspired by the approach of Elena's inevitable deflowering, and she bombards her older sister with questions, the answers to which fuel a smouldering resentment of her sister's looks, and the opportunities they afford her. Completing a classic vicious circle by turning to food for comfort, Anais resorts to fantasising about lover's tormented by her flightiness, mouthing soothing words to each of them as she swims back and forth between the diving board and the steps of a swimming pool.
The deliberately un-erotic 'seduction' scene lasts for nearly twenty minutes, and is compellingly realistic as Fernando skilfully manipulates Elena into making a 'demonstration of her love' by using methods of persuasion used by most boys and heard by most girls at some point in their early adulthood. The trick here, though, is that, although she plays coy, Elena isn't really reluctant to make love to Fernando she just needs to be talked into it, to be persuaded by declarations of love that will fulfil her romantic juvenile fantasies. Despite what others may think, while this film may arguably be a feminist tract, it isn't anti-men it simply casts an unerringly accurate eye on the ploys and the self-deception we all employ in our pursuit of sexual gratification at that age.
The jarring climax seems a strange choice on Breillat's part, although it can be argued that it resonates with the implications of views expressed earlier in the film by Anais. In fact, I first thought it was all part of some dark fantasy of Anais' until the final scene; but, as the camera freezes on her face, perhaps we are seeing that she believes she has achieved some kind of parity with her sister, has undergone her initiation and, having done so, can now concentrate on more meaningful pursuits. And, then again, perhaps not. It's one of those ambiguous endings open to numerous interpretations - that the more cynical viewer may believe has been deliberately designed to provoke speculation and debate.
Sexy, vivacious Elena (Roxanne Mesquida) and plump, pasty Anais (Anais Pingot) are sisters who are polar opposites, both physically and emotionally. At fifteen, Elena is already the focus of men's desires; she has a highly naïve and romanticised view of sex and more specifically of how she wishes to lose her virginity: she wishes it to be a declaration of and testimony to the love she shares with her partner. Anais, a couple of years younger than her sister, but far wiser and level-headed, would prefer to lose hers to a stranger, a man who means nothing to her, instinctively understanding that the physical act is less important than the emotional attachment of love. It has to be said that this is pretty adult thinking for a 12/13-year-old, but serves to demonstrate the differences between the sisters that leads to the events that follow.
While on holiday, the sisters meet an older Italian boy, Fernando (Libero De Rienzo), and within minutes Elena and Fernando are swapping spit while Anais gorges herself on a banana split. One night, Fernando creeps into the girls' bedroom and, in a quietly devastating scene that is all the more powerful for its matter-of-factness, begs and cajoles Elena into having sex with him. Elena finally agrees to anal sex while Anais feigns sleep in the bed across the room. The following night, frightened of losing Fernando, Elena agrees to full sex. When their liaison is discovered, the girls' mother (Arsinee Khanjian) angrily cuts short their holiday, and the three embark on an ill-fated journey home.
A Ma Soeur is a slow, deliberately paced film that takes the time to fully explore the relationship between Elena and Anais, and the ways in which each react toward their own burgeoning sexuality. The depiction of this relationship is one of the stronger, more believable, aspects of the film. Elena is, by turns, cruel and kind toward her little sister (although, apart from a wonderfully staged scene in which the sister's share an intimate moment recalling shared memories, all these displays of affection are either when the girls are alone, or to serve her own purposes), while Anais wastes no opportunity to remind Elena of what a bitch she is. Despite this, there is an unbreakable bond between the two girls that is acknowledged by neither of them. Anais' own sexual awakening is inspired by the approach of Elena's inevitable deflowering, and she bombards her older sister with questions, the answers to which fuel a smouldering resentment of her sister's looks, and the opportunities they afford her. Completing a classic vicious circle by turning to food for comfort, Anais resorts to fantasising about lover's tormented by her flightiness, mouthing soothing words to each of them as she swims back and forth between the diving board and the steps of a swimming pool.
The deliberately un-erotic 'seduction' scene lasts for nearly twenty minutes, and is compellingly realistic as Fernando skilfully manipulates Elena into making a 'demonstration of her love' by using methods of persuasion used by most boys and heard by most girls at some point in their early adulthood. The trick here, though, is that, although she plays coy, Elena isn't really reluctant to make love to Fernando she just needs to be talked into it, to be persuaded by declarations of love that will fulfil her romantic juvenile fantasies. Despite what others may think, while this film may arguably be a feminist tract, it isn't anti-men it simply casts an unerringly accurate eye on the ploys and the self-deception we all employ in our pursuit of sexual gratification at that age.
The jarring climax seems a strange choice on Breillat's part, although it can be argued that it resonates with the implications of views expressed earlier in the film by Anais. In fact, I first thought it was all part of some dark fantasy of Anais' until the final scene; but, as the camera freezes on her face, perhaps we are seeing that she believes she has achieved some kind of parity with her sister, has undergone her initiation and, having done so, can now concentrate on more meaningful pursuits. And, then again, perhaps not. It's one of those ambiguous endings open to numerous interpretations - that the more cynical viewer may believe has been deliberately designed to provoke speculation and debate.