Betty (1992)

When Betty is caught en flagrante, her bourgeois in-laws and husband force a divorce settlement upon her and bar her from seeing her two daughters. She is rescued from an alcoholic stupor ... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Chabrol

Writers:

Claude Chabrol, Georges Simenon (novel)

Stars:

Marie Trintignant, Stéphane Audran, Jean-François Garreaud

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marie Trintignant	...	Betty Etamble
Stéphane Audran	...	Laure
Jean-François Garreaud	...	Mario
Yves Lambrecht	...	Guy Etamble
Christiane Minazzoli	...	Madame Etamble
Pierre Vernier	...	Le médecin
Nathalie Kousnetzoff	...	Odile
Pierre Martot	...	Frédéric
Thomas Chabrol	...	Schwartz
Yves Verhoeven	...	Philippe
Henri Attal
Coco Bakonyi
Emmanuelle Bataille
Antoine Blanquefort
Mélanie Blatt	...	Thérèse

Storyline

When Betty is caught en flagrante, her bourgeois in-laws and husband force a divorce settlement upon her and bar her from seeing her two daughters. She is rescued from an alcoholic stupor by Laure, a middle-aged woman who takes Betty to her hotel lodgings, extends friendship and care, and listens to her story. Laure's lover, Mario, the proprietor of the bar where Betty and Laure met, is first a friend, then Betty's next conquest.

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Plot Keywords:

adultery | one word title | based on novel | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

October 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Betty - Uma Mulher sem Passado

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

CED Productions, Canal+, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Je voulais te dire que je t'attends"
Written by Michel Jonasz and Grosz
Performed by Michel Jonasz

User Reviews

Very Interesting

Psychological story of the friendship of two women and how one (and a nurse yet) comes to rescue the other.

It's a cautionary tale of the rigid social structure of a certain class of French family where children and wives are treated more like possessions than humans. Note how she isn't allowed to interact with her children..that is handled by the spotless Swiss nanny. Her husband buys her a mink coat, and rather than call it an expression of his love, he calls it an investment. No wonder she begins to drink! And yet she makes a lot of bad choices, which leads her astray from her family, which is maybe what she really wanted....

Marie T. was so sad..her eyes were so sad that I wasn't surprised to find that the actress herself had been killed. The pain in her eyes seemed almost unbearable.

I was disappointed in the end...it seemed to just drop off with not much explanation...I know European movies are much more likely to end this way, and yet I said "Huh?"...and yet I still enjoyed it as a portrait of an increasingly obsolete segment of French society.