FIND MOVIES
Movie List
Loading ...
or
Find Theaters and Movie Times
or
Search Movies

Review: Betty Blue, The Director's Cut

Well-remembered arthouse film gains an extra hour
By BRETT MICHEL  |  September 9, 2009
2.5 2.5 Stars

 

"I had known Betty for a week," a voiceover intones. The voice is that of Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade), an unpublished novelist, whom we see fucking Betty (Béatrice Dalle in a star-making turn) in the slow zoom that serves as the opening shot of Jean-Jacques Beineix's well-remembered (by horny young men — and likely a few women — who frequented arthouses back in 1986) contribution to erotic cinema, a film that was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar, despite charges of misogyny.

"We screwed every night," Zorg continues, his voice almost drowned out by Betty's screams as the camera draws closer to the sweaty couple. Then his ominous conclusion: "The forecast was for storms."

Thus begins Betty's descent into madness, now given room to develop more naturally in Beineix's polished-up version of his rough cut. This version runs more than an hour longer than the original, leaving Zorg's cross-dressing crime capers feeling more out of place than ever.

Related: Review: The Last International Playboy, Review: Chandni Chowk to China, Review: Everlasting Moments, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Culture and Lifestyle, Media,  More more >
| More


Most Popular
ARTICLES BY BRETT MICHEL
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: CONNED (2010)  |  October 18, 2012
    "What is this, some kinda' fuckin' joke?" These are the first words uttered in writer/director Arthur Luhn's homegrown comedy.
  •   REVIEW: TAKEN 2  |  October 10, 2012
    Retired CIA operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is still trying to remain an active part of the lives of his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace).
  •   REVIEW: BUTTER  |  October 11, 2012
    Any real-world comparisons between the Sarah Palin-like Laura Pickler (Jennifer Garner) and her African-American opponent, Destiny (Yara Shahidi), are encouraged in this over-churned movie that presents itself as a "cutthroat story of greed, blackmail, sex, and butter."
  •   REVIEW: HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE  |  October 02, 2012
    In 1987, 26-year-old Peter Staley, a closeted Wall Street trader, was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Given less than two years to live, he addressed the International AIDS Conference . . . three years later. He's still alive.
  •   REVIEW: SOLOMON KANE  |  October 02, 2012
    The last time Pete Postlethwaite died onscreen, he was being gunned down in The Town .

 See all articles by: BRETT MICHEL