***Viewed as the Director's Cut version -- this version was released in 1991 overseas and in 2009 in the US***
Starring John-Hegues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beiniex
Starring John-Hegues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beiniex
I knew next to nothing about this movie going into it, only that it was three hours long and the short summary listed on a website said that it contained some explicit sex scenes. So, one's mind tends to overlook the three hour thing and simply sees the words "explicit" and "sex" together and figures it can't be all bad.
And, it shockingly wasn't all that bad. In fact, it was good. However, it was good for reasons that I cannot for the life of me explain.
There are a ton of things not to like about this movie (and I'm not including French lady's hairy armpits amongst them, although that is certainly something not to like). For starters, the film is three hours long, but not much happens. It's essentially the story of an odd-job maintenance guy named Zorg who meets a gal named Betty. They hit it off sexually which allows him to overlook the fact that she's literally crazy. I mean, with the exception of her big teeth, Betty was certainly hot and it's possible I would've overlooked her loony tendencies, too. They move around. Betty discovers Zorg writes in his free time. She tries to get his novel published without much luck. Betty thinks she becomes pregnant (hence the title -- 37°2 le matin -- which is apparently the temperature of a pregnant woman when she awakens). Sure, that may sound like a substantial amount of story, but remember that this movie is three hours. Still, I never once was bored here. Not once. I was utterly amazed at that.
The film also doesn't seem to be quite sure whether it's a comedy or a drama. There are scenes that are intentionally funny and almost slapsticky; there are dramatic scenes that play funny because of the ridiculousness of the actors or the script; and there are scenes that are purely dramatic. It doesn't quite know what it is. And yet, despite that, I enjoyed the movie.
There are flaws galore -- the actors were fine at times and then insanely bad at others; some shots were pretty and then others felt like they were from a tv movie; some of the musical score was lyrical and haunting and then sometimes it felt like they were from an ABC Afterschool Special. Yet, for some reason, I enjoyed this movie.
And it wasn't just because of the sex. Don't get me wrong -- there were some really erotic, sexually charged scenes here -- and not in that late night Skinemax way. The film opens with the two leads consummating their relationship and they don't really stop from there...yet, it never felt forced or manipulative. It felt natural (with the exception of one scene in particular where Betty strips a sleeping Zorg's clothes off and then begins to kiss his...well, I'll leave it to your imagination...suffice it to say, that was the only scene featuring nudity that felt forced and "explicit" which, I think, is a word that tends to have a negative connotation which is why I really don't want to use it to describe the sex scenes here). Béatrice Dalle was certainly beautiful to look upon, and, considering that she was nude in some way for probably a good sixty minutes out of the movie, that's a plus. There was more breast-grabbing in this movie than I have ever seen. But that's not the reason I liked it either.
That's the thing. I can't pinpoint why I liked this. And if you were to watch it and say it was awful, I couldn't disagree with you either...you'd be right. Yet, for some reason, this worked for me.
And, it shockingly wasn't all that bad. In fact, it was good. However, it was good for reasons that I cannot for the life of me explain.
There are a ton of things not to like about this movie (and I'm not including French lady's hairy armpits amongst them, although that is certainly something not to like). For starters, the film is three hours long, but not much happens. It's essentially the story of an odd-job maintenance guy named Zorg who meets a gal named Betty. They hit it off sexually which allows him to overlook the fact that she's literally crazy. I mean, with the exception of her big teeth, Betty was certainly hot and it's possible I would've overlooked her loony tendencies, too. They move around. Betty discovers Zorg writes in his free time. She tries to get his novel published without much luck. Betty thinks she becomes pregnant (hence the title -- 37°2 le matin -- which is apparently the temperature of a pregnant woman when she awakens). Sure, that may sound like a substantial amount of story, but remember that this movie is three hours. Still, I never once was bored here. Not once. I was utterly amazed at that.
The film also doesn't seem to be quite sure whether it's a comedy or a drama. There are scenes that are intentionally funny and almost slapsticky; there are dramatic scenes that play funny because of the ridiculousness of the actors or the script; and there are scenes that are purely dramatic. It doesn't quite know what it is. And yet, despite that, I enjoyed the movie.
There are flaws galore -- the actors were fine at times and then insanely bad at others; some shots were pretty and then others felt like they were from a tv movie; some of the musical score was lyrical and haunting and then sometimes it felt like they were from an ABC Afterschool Special. Yet, for some reason, I enjoyed this movie.
And it wasn't just because of the sex. Don't get me wrong -- there were some really erotic, sexually charged scenes here -- and not in that late night Skinemax way. The film opens with the two leads consummating their relationship and they don't really stop from there...yet, it never felt forced or manipulative. It felt natural (with the exception of one scene in particular where Betty strips a sleeping Zorg's clothes off and then begins to kiss his...well, I'll leave it to your imagination...suffice it to say, that was the only scene featuring nudity that felt forced and "explicit" which, I think, is a word that tends to have a negative connotation which is why I really don't want to use it to describe the sex scenes here). Béatrice Dalle was certainly beautiful to look upon, and, considering that she was nude in some way for probably a good sixty minutes out of the movie, that's a plus. There was more breast-grabbing in this movie than I have ever seen. But that's not the reason I liked it either.
That's the thing. I can't pinpoint why I liked this. And if you were to watch it and say it was awful, I couldn't disagree with you either...you'd be right. Yet, for some reason, this worked for me.
The RyMickey Rating: B
betty blue movie is a romantic drama about a vivacious young woman who becomes obsessively involved with a would-be writer. Nice movie I wanted to
ReplyDeletedownload betty blue movie but was unable due to lack of time, I had watched only trailers