Betty Blue (Unrated Director's Cut)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Béatrice Dalle, Clémentine Célarié, Consuelo De Haviland, Gérard Darmon, Jean-Hugues AngladeDVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.66:1
Running Time: 185 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Betty Blue (Unrated Director's Cut)
Movie Review: Brilliantly Complex & Lyrically Affectionate Tragedy...
Summary: 5 Stars
Betty Blue will most certainly make many shake their heads will thinking why all the nudeness, is this really necessary, and so on and so forth. In the American society violence is almost a must for the cable stations that display drama. The violence is depicted through shootings, killings, and other disturbing images. For some reason violence appears more acceptable than nakedness and sexuality that is so vividly expressed in Betty Blue. Interestingly, American youth learn more about violence through history and social science than they learn about sexuality in sex education, if they are allowed to have it. Anyway, it is natural to be born naked and it is natural to undressed when making love with a loved one, which often transcends the emotional feelings between two loving individuals. Betty Blue transcends the audience through nakedness and existence into a natural state of love when uninterrupted.
Jean-Jacques Beineix's film opens with a complete shot where the two main characters, Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and Betty (Béatrice Dalle), are making love on a bed. It is obvious that they both have strong feelings for one another as both slowly build up their sexual arousal until it peaks with an emotional and physical explosion that slowly ebbs out. When the orgasm fades away they continue to embrace one another in a very affectionate and caring manner. It is a very warm and personal scene expressing the strong feelings that rest within both Zorg and Betty. The scene has class in its detailed imagery of love making without exploiting the situation or crossing the border into pornography.
At the end of the opening scene where Zorg gently kisses Betty, he says, "I had known Betty for a week. We screwed every night. The forecast was for storms." These storms that Zorg mentions will erupt sporadically with a climbing intensity. The first brief storm arrives when Zorg works at a beach resort while living in one of the 500 beach bungalows that his boss forces him to paint by himself. An impossible task for one person, but Zorg conforms to his boss's wish. When Betty finds out that he is suppose to paint all bungalows she goes on a brief rampage throwing stuff out while discovering one of Zorg's personal achievements, a novel. She reads it and determines that he is a brilliant writer that should focus on writing, but Zorg simply puts it off as he lacks the personal confidence.
The film continues to climb to its crescendo in a similar way of an orgasm. Evidently, there is something wrong with Betty, but Zorg stands firm next to her ready to support or defend her if necessary. She is the only thing that has made him feel good in life, and he is not willing to part from her. As Betty clings on to him, he clings on to her. Their affection for one another continues to develop throughout the film where they become very comfortable and open about each other. However, Betty's behavior becomes erratically violent whenever she feels pressured or helpless. Despite the increasingly violent eruptions that Betty demonstrates Zorg denies what it is abnormal and dangerous, as he continues to do everything within his means to help her in his own way.
The film delivers a multidimensional story of love, but many of the audience members might focus on the nudeness in the film. The nakedness is not an unique incident in art history and should therefore not blind the audience. Instead, the audience should embrace the nudeness as a normal part of the process of sexual love between two lovers. Besides the natural nudeness there are aspects of love such as care, affection, support, joy, communication, and the occasional disagreements. After all, love never is perfect from the beginning, as it is something people must continuously work on in order to keep it intact despite ups and downs in life.
In this tragedy Beineix explores agony and joy of love through the camera lens and his caring way of framing scenes. The care presents itself in how the characters are lined up in the scenes as well though the mise-en-scene, which provides additional elements that enhance themes within the film. In addition, the camera movement and editing displays moments of genius. For example, there is a brief scene with Betty standing on a bridge over a railway where a train is coming full speed towards the train while the camera is panning toward the right. This scene induces the feeling that the train will crash into her, even though it is obvious that the train will safely pass. Nonetheless, the scene suggests an inner turmoil within Betty in a very symbolical manner.
The combination of the filmmaking, the story, and the performance of the actors delivers an exceptional cinematic experience. At times the film is lyrical while swiftly being able to move towards a ominous situation where high levels of uncertainty generate anxiety. The duality of humanity has been gently touched on in this film, but not thoroughly explored, which leaves the audience with a personal and artistic impression of what love truly can be.
Summary of Betty Blue (Unrated Director's Cut)
Zorg lives a quiet and peaceful life, working diligently and writing in his spare time. Until Betty walks into his life, a young woman who is as beautiful as she is wild and unpredictable. When Betty's wild manners start to get out of control, Zorg is forced to watch the woman he loves slowly go insane. Featuring French Superstars Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle. From Jean-Jacques Beineix, the acclaimed director of the cult art house favorite, Diva. The sexy cult classic is now available from the first time on DVD and it's the unrated director's cut! Academy Award® nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.Similar DVD Movies
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