Betty Blue (1986)

Too much of everything

Nice effects though.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A moderately enjoyable film. If you are a lover of French cinema, this will be more enjoyable. Two loners, drift together, aided by her wonderful spirit, her joy and her sensuality.He, a writer/painter/plumber/jack-of-all-trades, seems to be existing day-to-day, before she enters his life; then, slowly, the partnership, the commitment evolves into something more.As the film proceeds, they move to Paris, staying with a friend and she painstakingly types his lone handwritten manuscript and sends it off to publishers in the hope that it will get published. This becomes a driving force in her life.Throughout the film, they constantly move forward, searching, striving for something better. He is somewhat content throughout, willing to follow her lead. She, however becomes more and more obsessed, with thoughts of failure, the world against her, the futility of her life.A sad ending to their travails; but, he ends up the better for it.Well acted throughout, although a few of the supporting characters tend to overact at times.A good film for a rainy night at home.

The theatrical cut of '37°2 le matin' is about a man (Zorg) who is helpless to his sweet girlfriend's inner turmoil. She is unable to help herself and he basically ignores her psychotic episodes probably in hope that things will sort itself out and that any time something happens will be the last time. Despite the English title it's about the male perspective, Zorg's life revolves around this woman for the time they are together, but it's really Béatrice Dalle as Betty who owns the film, even though it kind of stays on the character's surface she comes across as a fascinating, fully realized character. I thought it all comes together splendidly, though, from coherent plot and characters to the mixture of tones.The scenes of madness are tragic but in between those there's much delight with a world that has a subdued magic I'd love to bath in. It's very much the quirky characters around the two that shape that world and they are also responsible for infusing the film with most of the comedy and there are many hilarious moments indeed. The last act principally seemed like a fine conclusion but felt too rushed with the very ending feeling especially anticlimactic and I guess I just didn't want the film to end which is always the most positive possible point of criticism but probably also very much implies that I should watch the one-hour longer "Version Intégrale".And so I did the very next day! The director's cut is a mixed bag. There are quite a few additional scenes that added very little, some of them being more fun than others. One long episode in the middle section of the film that was missing in the theatrical cut did add some depth but wasn't really essential either. I generally don't really care for Zorg's sporadic poetic narration in '37°2 le matin', I thought it didn't add anything and I also found it sadly vulgar which worked against what otherwise seemed like true love between the two protagonists. The DC doesn't add any new narration but some minor scenes that I thought added a bit to the vulgarization like other characters making sexual remarks about Betty and Zorg sniffing Betty's underwear in her absence. But don't get me wrong, them being naked and having sex a lot actually felt very frank and even innocent, it gave the film this very free-spirited atmosphere that I enjoyed. Anyway, in the DC overall one gets a bit TOO much of a feeling of a daily routine setting in for those characters, it hurts the magic a bit and overall the film felt a bit long.What certainly did profit from it was the last act, well, except for one terrible sequence of Zorg robbing a joint in drags that came out of nowhere and tonally felt very much out of place. Other than that new scenes emphasized that Zorg was very concerned about Betty and he really tried to help her even if he was a bit late with realizing the seriousness of her condition at that point. The very end didn't change but it resonated much more with me. This time around Zorg killing Betty seemed like an incredibly selfish act which I figure he did so he would be able to move on with his life. Not an admirable act in the least but I can accept the ending, for Zorg Betty was, for better or worse, merely one chapter in his life (a point driven home by the image of the cooking chili which basically bookended the film), tragic ending, selfish man, but acceptable as a reminder that life's a bitch and all good things must come to an end.Concluding I'd say that the theatrical cut felt complete apart from the rushed ending with the director's cut adding some depth (although not nearly enough to warrant extending the film by over an hour) at the cost of muddling things up quite a bit and maybe even having the film lose some impact. If I was to recut the DC to create the, for me, ideal version of '37°2 le matin' I'd probably remove at least 30 minutes. Anyway, never mind which version, it's a new favorite for me.

Another film favorite that was programmed on the Los Angeles Based Z Channel, this was one that I kinda remembered, but had forgotten - basically because of its sadness, and because it was shown in its original language with subtitles. At that time, original foreign films shown in subtitles aren't usually tops on the list of young movie watchers at the time. So I had the opportunity to watch the 3 hour movie recently again, older, wiser and much more interested, and I'm glad I did. I remembered it. This is...a good film. Better impacted in the 80's before we all knew what we know now, but it still does holds up.This is a film of a man who fell in love with the most unpredictable woman he'd ever met. Her unpredictability attracted him, made him fall in love her, and that unpredictability was daring and unique. Going back to that time in the 80's who knew that she was more than just an unpredictable free spirit, she was on the brink of insanity and was losing her grip on what she thought she could control. He did too. And what you have here is a stunning film of love and acceptance of a strong life force entering a dull life and making that life realize that there WAS more to life than what he was living.There is no doubting how the palate of the colors of this film is also central in telling the story, so as you watch, do pay attention for I think its deliberate. And I did love watching Betty as she was not "flawless" but as natural and beautiful as one could be with the nudity involved in the film. (That's why in my reviews I keep using the word "real"). There's some nudity but due to the pacing of the film, it just didn't bother me as nudity for nudity's sake, but just a part of the life these two lovers led.Some will feel that 3 hours is a long time to look at a film, and it can be. But I've sat through 3 hour plus films such as Fanny & Alexander, Heaven's Gate and Das Boot back in the hey-day of the "Z" Channel - and because I found interest in them, the time flew by. Same with this one. It will grab your attention until the end.

Writer-director Jean-Jacques Beineix's film follows the sad life of Betty and her lover Zorg. From the steamy beginning of their relationship to the bitter end, we share in their heartache. This story has tragedy written all over it."Betty Blue" fails to captivate though. In fact it only succeeds in repulsing due to the ugliness of the central character. Betty is such a crazy wench that you never know whom she might attack next. It is thus very hard to sympathise with her, or any other of the rather uninspiring characters.Having said this, Beatrice Dalle is superb as the severely disturbed Betty, and Jean Hughes-Anglade lends strong support as "writer" boyfriend Zorg. Additional cast add extra weight to the acting credentials. Cinematography from Jean-Francois Robin is top notch, as is the original music from Gabriel Yared which is just that, fresh and different. Beineix presents the production well, but is unable to win us over. Phillippe Djian's novel could be intriguing.Sunday, February 22, 1998 - Video