I couldn’t stand Romance. Catherine Breillat’s previous film simply pissed me off – here was a stupid person doing stupid things. I had learnt, however, that fans of Romance hadn’t liked À ma soeur!, so I figured I might enjoy it.
The males in the piece are much the same as Romance – predatory and pathetic at the same time. But this film is essentially about females and not males, so it doesn’t matter if their depiction is extreme.
Now to the most important aspect of À ma soeur!… At one point this film shocked me to the bone. I actually yelled out in surprise/anguish. I’ve seen a lot of films, and this rarely, if ever happens. Thus any film that can produce such a profound effect is pretty darn impressive.
Much more entertaining than Romance, this is a film that actually let me sympathise with the central protagonists, rather than simply disgusting me.