Betty Blue

1986 2h 0m FR

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

78%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 484🍅78%Rotten Tomatoes●56Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 24,663

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Jean-Hugues Anglade
Zorg
Béatrice Dalle
Betty
Gérard Darmon
Eddy
Consuelo De Haviland
Lisa
Clémentine Célarié
Annie
Jacques Mathou
Bob
Vincent Lindon
Richard le jeune policier
Catherine D'At
Client de la pizzeria

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Writers: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

40 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, shot by Jean-François Robin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Gabriel Yared. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Monique Prim shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle and Gérard Darmon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0090563 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean-Jacques Beineix directs. Jean-François Robin behind the camera. Gabriel Yared scores. Monique Prim cuts. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

140 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, shot by Jean-François Robin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Gabriel Yared. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Monique Prim shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle and Gérard Darmon carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0090563 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean-François Robin
Original score: Gabriel Yared
Editing: Monique Prim
Production design: Carlos Conti
Costume design: Elisabeth Tavernier
Makeup / hair: Judith Gayo
Runtime: 120 min · 2h 0m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $2,003,822
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Betty Blue (1986)
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 56/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 24,663 votes
MPAA: Unrated

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 5 wins & 12 nominations total

Silver nugget for the best foreign film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Jean-Jacques Beineix

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-08-21
★ 7/10
"Betty" (Béatrice Dalle) and "Zorg" (Jean-Hugues Anglade) live a happy-go-lucky life au bord de la mer. Their utopian existence is thrown into chaos by her relationship with his demanding boss who needs all of their bungalows painted in return for the rent to be waived. She then proceeds to throw one of the best strops in cinema before they head off to stay with one of her friends whose boyfriend has just inherited a piano store and that's where our loveable duo end up. They still have their heads in the clouds and when they are not walking around naked, or having sex, or drinking wine - he is supposed to be writing a book. Ha! Fat chance - especially as we almost imperceptibly, at first, begin to realise that "Betty" is becoming unwell. Her grasp of things isn't what it was and her character changes into something poor old "Zorg" struggles to reconcile with - despite his undying love for her. We are seeing things from both perspectives here and that's where the film comes alive. Their respective rationales become ambiguous, their behaviour more erratic - indeed their whole way of life that has been so successfully unstructured thus far might now be the very thing that's making things difficult, maybe even impossible, as the denouement threatens tragedy. There's a great deal of nudity but after about five minutes that is, as so often happens in European cinema, subsumed into a story that is characterful and strong. It does suggest love, lust and joy, but latterly it begins to suggest something else - a vulnerability. It's a bit on the long side but by half an hour in, Dalle has managed to hook the audience and maybe because of them or maybe despite them, I felt that I wanted something good for them. Happiness, contentment, love - all things that prove tantalisingly out of their reach. Can they attain something fulfilling? It mixes the light and fluffy with the intriguing and occasionally quite thought-provoking, and shows us both sides of a coin of helplessness that's quite poignant at times to watch.

Production companies