''Betty Blue'' (french: 37°2 le matin, lit=37.2°C in the morning) is a 1986 French erotic

psychological drama Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologic ...

film directed by

Jean-Jacques Beineix Jean-Jacques Beineix (; 8 October 1946 – 13 January 2022) was a French film director best known for the films ''Diva'' and ''Betty Blue''. His work is regarded as a prime example of the ''cinéma du look'' film movement in France. Early life ...

, based on the 1985 novel ''37°2 le matin'' by

Philippe Djian Philippe Djian (; born 3 June 1949) is a popular French author of Armenian descent. He won the 2012 Prix Interallié for the novel ''"Oh..." (Elle'' for the English translation). Life and career Djian graduated from the Ecole Supérieure de J ...

. The film stars Béatrice Dalle and

Jean-Hugues Anglade Jean-Hugues Anglade (born 29 July 1955) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, known for his roles as Eric in ''Killing Zoe'', Zorg in ''Betty Blue'' and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita in '' Nikita''. Personal life Anglade was born ...

. It was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1986 in France.JPBox-Office
/ref> The film received both a BAFTA and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nomination for

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

in 1986.

Plot

Zorg (

) is a thirty-something aspiring writer making a living as a handyman for a community of

beach house Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals). Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...

s in the seaside resort at Gruissan on France's mediterranean coast. He meets 19-year-old Betty ( Béatrice Dalle), a volatile and impulsive young woman, and the two begin a passionate affair, living in his borrowed shack on the beach. Following a row with him where she tears apart and smashes up the house, she finds the manuscript of his first novel; she reads it in one long sitting and decides that he is a genius. However, after another argument with his boss, she empties the shack and burns it down. The two decamp to the outskirts of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where her friend Lisa (Consuelo de Haviland) has a small hotel. Betty laboriously types out Zorg's novel and submits it to various publishers. They meet Lisa's new boyfriend Eddy (

Gérard Darmon Gérard Darmon (born 29 February 1948) is a French- Moroccan actor and singer. Personal life He was the second husband of actress Mathilda May (mother of his two youngest children). He has three children: Virginie (born 1968) and, by May, daug ...

), and the four have many fun times, often fuelled by alcohol. They find work in Eddy's pizzeria, but a fight erupts in which Betty stabs a customer with a fork. Zorg tries to slap her back to her senses. Though Zorg hides the rejection letters, Betty finds one and, going to the publisher's house, slashes his face. Zorg induces him to drop charges by threatening him with violence, saying that she is the only good thing in his life and she is all he has. Eddy's mother dies and the friends go to the funeral in

Marvejols Marvejols (; oc, Maruèjols), is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Marvejolais''. Geography The commune is located in the Massif central. The Colagne flows southward through the middle of t ...

. There, Eddy asks Zorg and Betty if they will live in the dead woman's house and look after her piano shop. Zorg enjoys the quiet provincial life and makes friends with the grocer Bob (

Jacques Mathou Jacques Mathou is a French actor, best known for his appearance in ''Delicatessen''. Filmography * 1985 : '' Tranches de vie'' * 1986 : ''Betty Blue'', Bob * 1987 : ''L'été en pente douce'' * 1987 : '' Si le soleil ne revenait pas'' * 1989 : ' ...

), his sex-starved wife Annie (

Clémentine Célarié Clémentine Célarié (born 12 October 1957) is a French actress, writer, director and singer.

), and various offbeat characters, but Betty's violent mood swings are a concern. One day, after an irritating comment from Zorg, she punches out a window with her bare hand and goes on a screaming flight through the town. Happiness seems on the horizon when a home test suggests that Betty is pregnant, but a lab test is negative and she sinks into depression and tells him that she is hearing voices talking to her in her head. Zorg, masquerading as a woman, robs an armoured cash collection van delivery headquarters, holding the guards at gunpoint, and tying them up. He attempts to use the money to buy Betty's happiness, but she fails to respond and enacts yet another prosecutable offence by luring a small boy away from his mother and taking him to a toy store. Zorg finds her and they both flee from the authorities as they rush to rescue the boy. One day, Zorg comes home to find blood all over the place and Betty gone. Bob tells him she has gouged out an eye and is in the hospital. Rushing there, Zorg finds her under heavy sedation and is told to come back the next day. Going home, he receives a phone call from a publisher accepting his manuscript. On his next visit to the hospital, he finds Betty restrained and catatonic. He becomes agitated and a doctor tells him that she will need prolonged treatment and may never recover her sanity. Zorg reacts by blaming her illness on the medication being administered and physically attacks the doctor. He is forcefully ejected from the hospital after a violent struggle with three orderlies. Returning in disguise, he whispers his farewells and smothers Betty with a pillow. Going home, he sits down to continue his current book.

Cast

Production

According to the director

, the relationship between

and Béatrice Dalle went far beyond a simple professional collaboration. "They were flirting all the time. It's clear that we didn't know if we were in the movie anymore. They lived an extraordinary story."

Release

''Betty Blue'' was distributed in the UK and the US in November 1986 with English subtitles. A 185-minute director's cut debuted in 2000 with the extra hour allowing Betty's descent into madness to take up more space and her pursuit of motherhood to get more screen time. Zorg's character is explored with several solo vignettes, including his cross-dressing crime spree. Both the 185-minute Director’s Cut and the original theatrical cut were released on blu-ray in 2013 by Second Sight Films. The director's cut was added to

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

on DVD and Blu-ray on 19 November 2019.The Criterion Collection
/ref>

References

External links