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

Would life imitate art?

In the case of Alias Betty, I doubt that life would imitate art...what do I mean by this...well, crimes are committed everyday...murders, thefts, kidnappings...but do we ever feel empathetic with the criminal who commits these acts...in a word, NO! In this foreign film by Claude Miller, he managed to weave several story lines that showed dysfunction to the max. It was a bit difficult to feel any empathy at first with the main character's emotional pain as the character seemed so dispassionate. As the story evolved it was plain to see that the horrific crime committed by the character's mother in hopes of easing her child's pain, or perhaps her own might have been the best solution for all involved. Perhaps the moral of this story is that one doesn't have to be the birth parent to provide a loving and secure home for a child...anyone can be a parent, but not everyone knows how to parent. This film was extremely well done and will leave the viewer with much to think about.