37,2 degrees. This is the morning temperature of a pregnant woman's body. This is the temperature Betty Blue (Beatrice Dalle) would like her body to have. But she can't. She can't have children, and so, the already fragile woman descends into madness. Only her love for Zorg, a handyman (Jean-Hugues Anglade) keeps her sane. Or does it? Does his love actually deteriorate her mental state? For, it's not a love like all others; it's a mad, mad love.
Such a love shows Jean-Jacques Beneix in his 1986 film, "Betty blue" (of which the original title was "37,2 le matin", indicating the temperature mentioned above). The director, already famous for his 1981 visual masterpiece, "Diva", here delved into emotional relationships in a strange, even bizarre manner. Betty blue is a fired waitress, and meets Zorg all of a sudden. But they know they are made for each other. They attract each other as if they were both parts of the same body. It's a love like that that can lead someone to do anything for their lover. Both Betty and Zorg excel in that extent.
Zorg works for a fat, rude cottage owner. His job is to paint all of his cottages, something tiring to do all alone. And so, Betty comes to help him. Unfortunately, her intense, uninhibited behaviour, perfect for intimate moments, becomes problematic, even dangerous when faced with the irritable employer of her lover. In a scene, fed up with his illogical attitude towards Zorg, she chases him paints his car with the same paint that she had painted his cottages. The submissive Zorg does almost nothing.
Zorg is an aspiring writer, but his own low confidence has made him forget this aspect of his character. It is only when Betty discovers his manuscripts that he decides to take up writing again. Without her constant support - she even types his manuscripts, thousands of words long, in order to send it to publishers - he would fail.
Zorg is there for Betty as much as she is for him. But he can't help her uncontrollable behaviour, her urge to always act spontaneously, her fragility, her anger, of which the cause no one understands. Betty is angry because no one wants to put up with her. They resort to the easy solution of calling her "mad" and locking her up in mental hospitals. Yes, technology can help in curing such mental illnesses, since Betty is surely ill. But only on the surface. What will really cure Betty is love, the one that Zorg gives her. Still, their love is more of the character of Betty herself; without limits, full of intensity and emotion. It's a love that reflects her inner state of feeling, and so, if something happens that distorts this happy moment in her life, she will die.
When recounting the making of "Betty Blue", Beneix said that Anglade and Dalle had a real romance during the film's shooting. This surely helped in making their performances more realistic. They indeed seemed destined for each other and complimented each other's behaviour in a way that gave this story its substance. Only through Dalle's captivating performance could the character of Betty come alive, and the reserved, worried Anglade served as a perfect counterpoint to her constant turbulence. These two were, in my opinion, one of the best couples of French 80's cinema, in an age when it had a lot of them.
The film does not limit itself to showing their love in feelings. It has plenty of erotic scenes, in which the named bodies of the protagonists can be fully seen as they make love. But this eroticism is well hidden. The bodies don't come off as provocative, neither is the sight of Dalle almost naked walking in the street. They are filmed in a way that seems as if Beneix wanted more to reflect Dalle's natural personality through her body, rather than exploit them for voyeuristic reasons. They are not there to be admired, rather just looked at.
Beneix does not forget his cinéma du look roots and , aside from the excellent story, fills his film with bright colours, luxury cars that shine in the night, and the magical landscape of the beach in which the cottages can be found. All this makes the film as a much a feast for the eyes, as it is for the heart.
A story about love, about madness, about the conclusion the combination of these two can have. A story about two people made for each other, but so different that sometimes their love seems to come from nowhere. "Betty Blue" is all that, and even more. It is a film as different as Betty's and Zorg's love was to all others. And this is why it is so successful in the end. Just as their love couldn't be replaced, this movie cannot be replaced by any other. It is what it is. Different, and often dazzling. Like their mad, mad love.
Such a love shows Jean-Jacques Beneix in his 1986 film, "Betty blue" (of which the original title was "37,2 le matin", indicating the temperature mentioned above). The director, already famous for his 1981 visual masterpiece, "Diva", here delved into emotional relationships in a strange, even bizarre manner. Betty blue is a fired waitress, and meets Zorg all of a sudden. But they know they are made for each other. They attract each other as if they were both parts of the same body. It's a love like that that can lead someone to do anything for their lover. Both Betty and Zorg excel in that extent.
Zorg works for a fat, rude cottage owner. His job is to paint all of his cottages, something tiring to do all alone. And so, Betty comes to help him. Unfortunately, her intense, uninhibited behaviour, perfect for intimate moments, becomes problematic, even dangerous when faced with the irritable employer of her lover. In a scene, fed up with his illogical attitude towards Zorg, she chases him paints his car with the same paint that she had painted his cottages. The submissive Zorg does almost nothing.
Zorg is an aspiring writer, but his own low confidence has made him forget this aspect of his character. It is only when Betty discovers his manuscripts that he decides to take up writing again. Without her constant support - she even types his manuscripts, thousands of words long, in order to send it to publishers - he would fail.
Zorg is there for Betty as much as she is for him. But he can't help her uncontrollable behaviour, her urge to always act spontaneously, her fragility, her anger, of which the cause no one understands. Betty is angry because no one wants to put up with her. They resort to the easy solution of calling her "mad" and locking her up in mental hospitals. Yes, technology can help in curing such mental illnesses, since Betty is surely ill. But only on the surface. What will really cure Betty is love, the one that Zorg gives her. Still, their love is more of the character of Betty herself; without limits, full of intensity and emotion. It's a love that reflects her inner state of feeling, and so, if something happens that distorts this happy moment in her life, she will die.
When recounting the making of "Betty Blue", Beneix said that Anglade and Dalle had a real romance during the film's shooting. This surely helped in making their performances more realistic. They indeed seemed destined for each other and complimented each other's behaviour in a way that gave this story its substance. Only through Dalle's captivating performance could the character of Betty come alive, and the reserved, worried Anglade served as a perfect counterpoint to her constant turbulence. These two were, in my opinion, one of the best couples of French 80's cinema, in an age when it had a lot of them.
The film does not limit itself to showing their love in feelings. It has plenty of erotic scenes, in which the named bodies of the protagonists can be fully seen as they make love. But this eroticism is well hidden. The bodies don't come off as provocative, neither is the sight of Dalle almost naked walking in the street. They are filmed in a way that seems as if Beneix wanted more to reflect Dalle's natural personality through her body, rather than exploit them for voyeuristic reasons. They are not there to be admired, rather just looked at.
Beneix does not forget his cinéma du look roots and , aside from the excellent story, fills his film with bright colours, luxury cars that shine in the night, and the magical landscape of the beach in which the cottages can be found. All this makes the film as a much a feast for the eyes, as it is for the heart.
A story about love, about madness, about the conclusion the combination of these two can have. A story about two people made for each other, but so different that sometimes their love seems to come from nowhere. "Betty Blue" is all that, and even more. It is a film as different as Betty's and Zorg's love was to all others. And this is why it is so successful in the end. Just as their love couldn't be replaced, this movie cannot be replaced by any other. It is what it is. Different, and often dazzling. Like their mad, mad love.