Betty Blue (DVD)

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Gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride and lust. These are the so-called Seven Deadly Sins, and in one regard or another, each is featured in "Betty Blue," a recent rerelease of the 1986 Jean-Jacques Beineix film by Cinema Libre Studio. Some instances are easier to pick up than others, but by no means is this a film that only preaches negativity or ill will. It´s an extremely complex love story that mixes in the sins listed above and leaves you pondering their role in the experience you just went through.

This edition is the extended director´s cut, and runs well over an hour longer than the original theatrical version. I´ve seen and reviewed two other Beineix films, "IP5" and "Mortal Transfer," here at DVDTOWN, and this small sample featuring some pretty pronounced work has some real similarities. All three have a coming of age feel, with characters that grow together rather than independently and lean on one another to survive. More importantly, Beineix implements a madness undertone that infects these films at multiple instances and lingers with its players throughout. It´s a unique element I´ve not seen in too many other works, and throws a curve ball into the mix.

"Betty Blue" was originally released in theaters in November 1986. In French, its title is "37°2 le matin," which means ´37.2°C in the morning,´ apparently a pregnant woman´s normal morning temperature. Based on a 1985 novel with the same title from Phillippe Djian, "Betty Blue" was nominated for the 1987 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the 1987 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for nine Cesar Awards, accolades given to France´s best films annually.

As with other Beineix films, this one has its own extremes, particularly with regard to sexuality. There´s more than enough nudity to go around, featuring both men and women. Dialogue blends plenty of profanity and vulgar lines together. The characters abuse alcohol, tobacco and drugs with little regard for others or themselves. It may not really sound like a love story, or something you´d want to actually watch. But the reality is that for many, things like sexual endeavors, profanity and substance abuse are connected with personal lives and intimate relationships. Today, this may be truer than when Beineix directed "Betty Blue" over two decades ago. So you´ve been warned about the challenge that lies ahead, but if you´re able, take it all in. I´m optimistic you´ll gain something from it.

Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) is a simple man with a pretty interesting secret you wouldn´t know unless you dug it out. He lives in a shack on the beach and exudes bachelor tendencies from all orifices. His personal hygiene is non-existent, his eating habits poor and his regard for women slightly askew. Zorg makes his living by doing some little things and odd jobs here and there for his landlord. It isn´t a glorious life, but he seems content.

We meet him one afternoon during a sexual romp with Betty (Beatrice Dalle) in his bedroom. She´s not exactly the girl you want to take home to your parents, but she makes up for it in other ways. Her beauty is natural and stunning, her passion for life visible and tangible. Betty´s desire to take in every moment or experience she can produces emotion and desire in those around her, especially Zorg. We learn they´ve only known each other one week, but are without question in love. She´s working as a waitress in a nearby restaurant, and stumbles into his home unannounced one afternoon, recently unemployed and now homeless. Perplexed yet motivated by her lust and beauty, he opens his home to her. But when another long night loaded with sex and alcohol causes Zorg to be late for a job, his landlord comes knocking. Betty doesn´t really like how Zorg is treated, and throws a tantrum that any four year old could learn a thing or two from. As a condition for her to stay, and punishment for Zorg´s tardiness, the landlord orders the pair to paint the several hundred homes he owns along the beach.

After getting through a few locations, the landlord reappears and demands they keep up the pace. Angry and frustrated, Betty tosses pink paint on his luxury car and pushes him off an overhang. She continues to vent, and throws pretty much everything in Zorg´s home out the front door and bedroom window. When she reaches a final box, it´s full of World War II manuscripts Zorg wrote years ago. Betty stays up all night reading them, and tells Zorg he should try to have them published. He disagrees and gets back to the grind the next day, but when he returns home, Betty hands him a duffel bag with the handwritten manuscripts in it and tosses her lantern into his house, engulfing it in flames. The two leave town, with little money to their names or plans in their minds.

Eventually, the pair wind up at Lisa´s (Consuelo De Haviland) place and rent a room. She is Betty´s best friend, and willingly takes them in. While Zorg looks for work, Betty begins typing his writing, confident that getting it published is the key to their love and future together. Shortly after this, Lisa´s lover Eddy (Gerard Darmon) moves in, and the two couples have more than enough drunken fun together. Eventually, Betty mails Zorg´s work to some publishers, and the remaining run time illustrates how she deals with rejection, addiction and descent into a personal madness with verbal and physical repercussions.