Betty Blue

When the easygoing would-be novelist Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade) meets the tempestuous Betty (Béatrice Dalle, in a magnetic breakout performance) in a sunbaked French beach town, it’s the beginning of a whirlwind love affair that sees the pair turn their backs on conventional society in favor of the hedonistic pursuit of freedom, adventure, and carnal pleasure. But as the increasingly erratic Betty’s grip on reality begins to falter, Zorg finds himself willing to do things he never expected to protect both her fragile sanity and their tenuous existence together. Adapted from the hit novel 37°2 le matin by Philippe Djian, Jean-Jacques Beineix’s art-house smash—presented here in its extended director’s cut—is a sexy, crazy, careening joyride of a romance that burns with the passion and beyond-reason fervor of all-consuming love.

Film Info

  • France
  • 1986
  • 185 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • French
  • Spine #1002

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital restoration, approved by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Blue Notes and Bungalows, an hour-long documentary from 2013 featuring Beineix, actors Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle, associate producer Claudie Ossard, cinematographer Jean-François Robin, and composer Gabriel Yared
  • Making of “Betty Blue,” a short video featuring Beineix and author Philippe Djian
  • Le chien de Monsieur Michel, a short film by Beineix from 1977
  • French television interview from 1986 with Beineix and Dalle
  • Dalle screen test
  • Trailers
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Chelsea Phillips-Carr

Cover design by Century.Studio

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • High-definition digital restoration, approved by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  • Blue Notes and Bungalows, an hour-long documentary from 2013 featuring Beineix, actors Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle, associate producer Claudie Ossard, cinematographer Jean-François Robin, and composer Gabriel Yared
  • Making of “Betty Blue,” a short video featuring Beineix and author Philippe Djian
  • Le chien de Monsieur Michel, a short film by Beineix from 1977
  • French television interview from 1986 with Beineix and Dalle
  • Dalle screen test
  • Trailers
  • New English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Chelsea Phillips-Carr

Cover design by Century.Studio

Betty Blue
Cast
Jean-Hugues Anglade
Zorg
Béatrice Dalle
Betty
Gérard Darmon
Eddy
Consuelo de Haviland
Lisa
Clémentine Célarié
Annie
Jacques Mathou
Bob
Vincent Lindon
Young police officer
Jean-Pierre Bisson
Commissioner
Dominique Pinon
Drug dealer
Claude Confortès
Bungalows proprietor
Philippe Laudenbach
Editor
Credits
Director
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Based on the novel by
Philippe Djian
Screenplay by
Jean-Jacques Beineix
Associate producer
Claudie Ossard
Delegate producer
Cargo Films
Original music composed and conducted by
Gabriel Yared
Director of photography
Jean-François Robin
Set designer
Carlos Conti
Set decoration
Jacques Leguillon
Editor
Monique Prim
Editor
Yves Deschamps
Sound operator
Pierre Befve
Sound operator
Dominique Hennequin
Costumes
Elisabeth Tavernier
Makeup
Judith Gayo
Production manager
Volker Lemke
Stills photographer
Marianne Rosenstiehl

Current

Charisma to Burn: Béatrice Dalle’s Incandescent Debut in Betty Blue
Charisma to Burn: Béatrice Dalle’s Incandescent Debut in Betty Blue

The young French actor didn’t require much direction for her first screen role. As the film’s director and cinematographer recall, she quickly proved herself to be a born star.

Betty Blue: The Look of Love
Betty Blue: The Look of Love

Underneath its brilliantly colored, highly stylized surfaces, this key work of 1980s French cinema is a heartrending portrait of a woman struggling to both inhabit and reject traditionally feminine roles.

By ​Chelsea Phillips-Carr

Dustin O’Halloran’s Top 10
Dustin O’Halloran’s Top 10

On the heels of the release of his latest album, Silfur, the Emmy-winning composer and pianist shares a selection of his favorite films and some thoughts on the power of a good musical score.