Betty (film)

Betty
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Claude Chabrol
Written by	Claude Chabrol
Based on	Betty by Georges Simenon
Produced by	Marin Karmitz
Starring	Marie Trintignant Stéphane Audran Jean-François Garreaud Yves Lambrecht Christiane Minazzoli Pierre Vernier
Cinematography	Bernard Zitzermann
Edited by	Monique Fardoulis
Music by	Matthieu Chabrol
Production companies	MK2 Productions CED Productions FR3 Films Canal Plus
Distributed by	MK2 Diffusion
Release date	19 February 1992 (1992-02-19) (France)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	France[1]
Language	French

Betty is a 1992 French psychological drama film written and directed by Claude Chabrol, based on the 1961 novel of the same title by Georges Simenon. The film stars Marie Trintignant and Stéphane Audran, with Jean-François Garreaud, Yves Lambrecht, Christiane Minazzoli and Pierre Vernier. It was released in France on 19 February 1992 by MK2 Diffusion.^[2]

Plot

Betty, a young alcoholic woman, is caught while cheating on her bourgeois husband. Wasting no time, he and his family arrange a quick divorce settlement, ousting her from home and keeping her away from the two children the couple have. One night she ends up in a restaurant called Le Trou (The Hole), where she meets Laure, an older woman, an alcoholic herself. Laure decides to take care of Betty after hearing the heart-breaking stories of her being a victim of her husband's rich and ruthless high society family. Betty receives care and friendship from Laure, who's in a relationship with Mario, the restaurant's owner. Betty's envy toward Laure, especially regarding her relationship with Mario, grows each day and eventually drives Betty to contrive the means to conquer her new friend's lover. Laure realizes she has made a mistake by trusting Betty, and things soon begin to fall apart between them. Betty's true colors are now visible and she sees her life at a point of no return, as she has selfishly stomped on the last chance she had of being a better person.

Cast

• Marie Trintignant as Betty Etamble
• Stéphane Audran as Laure Levaucher
• Jean-François Garreaud as Mario
• Yves Lambrecht as Guy Etamble
• Christiane Minazzoli as Madame Etamble
• Pierre Vernier as Bernard
• Nathalie Kousnetzoff as Odile Etamble
• Pierre Martot as Frédéric Etamble
• Thomas Chabrol as Schwartz
• Yves Verhoeven as Philippe
• Jacques Brunet as Le médecin
• Dominique Reymond

Reception

Lawrence O'Toole of Entertainment Weekly rated Betty a B+, praising Trintignant's "smashing performance" and calling the film "Disturbing, compelling, and very smart stuff."^[3] In the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert noted that the film "creates an entirely different order of suspense from the ordinary 'suspense' film. Watching it, in the same week I saw two conventional Hollywood 'thrillers', was like being invited to participate with the depths of my mind instead of just the shallow surface."^[4] John Simon of the National Review, in addition to praising the performances of Trintignant and Audran, described Betty as "one of the most well-behavedly bone-chilling horror stories of all time".^[5]

References

1. "Betty". Le Figaro. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
2. "Betty de Claude Chabrol (1992)" (in French). Unifrance. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
3. O'Toole, Lawrence (18 November 1994). "Video Review: "Betty"". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007.
4. Ebert, Roger (1 October 1993). "Betty". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 13 June 2023 – via RogerEbert.com.
5. Simon, John (2005). John Simon on Film: Criticism, 1982–2001. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-5578-3507-9.

External links

• Betty at IMDb 
• Betty at AlloCiné (in French)