Alias Betty (2001)
"Betty Fisher et autres histoires" (original title)

Grieving after the death of her young son Joseph, novelist Betty Fisher enters a dark depression. Hoping to bring her out of it, her mother Margot arranges to kidnap another child, Jose, to... See full summary »

Director:

Claude Miller

Writers:

Claude Miller, Ruth Rendell (novel)

Stars:

Sandrine Kiberlain, Nicole Garcia, Mathilde Seigner

5 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandrine Kiberlain	...	Betty Fisher
Nicole Garcia	...	Margot Fisher
Mathilde Seigner	...	Carole Novacki
Luck Mervil	...	François Diembele
Edouard Baer	...	Alex Basato (as Édouard Baer)
Stéphane Freiss	...	Edouard
Yves Jacques	...	René the Canadian
Roschdy Zem	...	Dr. Jerome Castang
Consuelo De Haviland	...	Madame Barsky
Yves Verhoeven	...	Martinaud
Annie Mercier	...	Jacqueline
Alexis Chatrian	...	Jose Novacki
Enzo Crebessegues	...	Child
Arthur Setbon	...	Joseph Fisher
Réva Rothstein	...	Child

Storyline

Grieving after the death of her young son Joseph, novelist Betty Fisher enters a dark depression. Hoping to bring her out of it, her mother Margot arranges to kidnap another child, Jose, to replace the son Betty lost. Although she knows it's wrong, Betty accepts Jose as her new son. Meanwhile, Jose's mother Carole is looking for her son with the help of her boyfriend Francois and some of his criminal cohorts.

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Plot Keywords:

death | criminal | depression | novelist | bath | 

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Taglines:

Crimes of passion are not always between lovers.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

France Canada

Language:

French

Release Date:

13 September 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alias Betty

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$23,929 (USA) (13 September 2002)

Gross:

$206,400 (USA) (21 March 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, France 2 Cinéma, Go Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene in which Alex goes to the bookshelf and pulls down a book in which some money is hidden, all the books on that shelf are by Ruth Rendell, who wrote the book this film was based on. The cover of the French version of that book, entitled 'Jeux des Mains', is prominently displayed when he pulls down the book.

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Connections

Version of Innocent Victim (1989)

User Reviews

A very French interpretation of an English novel

Ruth Rendell's novel, A Tree of Hands, was, as most of her work is, brooding, obsessive, and menacing. In Claude Miller's hands, the book has become altogether expatriated. It is now chic, extremely clever, and quite amoral. In short, very French. Briefly, the lives of a successful novelist, bereft of her only child who has just died in a fall, and her mad mother, intersect with those of another mother, a barmaid, who neglects and abuses her child, another little boy, and her taciturn boyfriend. The film cuts briskly back and forth between these two worlds, from the novelist's lovely house in a wealthy Paris suburb, to the bar-resto, hangout for pimps and dealers, where the other woman is employed. It is driven by the mad logic of the novelist's mother and Miller's strength is the insidious way he inveigles the audience into accepting that logic as sane. This is certainly not Rendell, but it is a lot of fun--think a tighter, tauter, altogether more stylish Talented Mr Ripley. The three actresses who play the three mothers jointly won "Best Actress" award at the Montreal Film Festival where the film had its North American premiere.