Cousin Bette

source: Cousin Bette

A great film, with wonderful performances from all, especially Lange, who plays her role so delicately that the viewer is never able to get the sort of hold on Bette that would do injustice to the novel. The most remarkable thing about this film however is Elisabeth Shue's singing which is... odd. But this is all in all a brilliant film with a depth of character and strength of plot (the ending leaves one empty for days) that makes it highly rewarding.

and just about everyone else. Who knew that deception, treachery, and revenge could be this tedious. Although the period production design is reasonable, this film suffers from lax direction and the presence of an `international cast', with the resultant mix of accents and acting styles. Of the better known thespians, Geraldine Chaplin again demonstrates that she inherited her mother's looks but not her father's talent, whereas the best that can be said of Americans Elizabeth Shue and Jessica Lange is that they are woefully miscast. As a courtesan, Ms. Shue exhibits about as much ability to drive men to ruin as a stale baguette, while a rosy-cheeked, unwrinkled Ms. Lange delivers a studied, monotone performance relieved only by occasional lapses into a southern accent. This Gallic debacle left this reviewer wondering if the final musical sequence was indicative of a certain regard for the audience, and firmly convinced that bringing French literature to the screen is best left to the French.

Cousin Bette is a very good 1840's period peice (as I am not a fan usually of period peices)where yes a miscast Jessica Lange who is strikingly beautiful at the age of 48 when she filmed this movie plays a spinster who has a family of backstabbers who treat her barely above the servants in attitude and her character taking advantage of certain situtions that come to light that help her reverse her finacinal and living arrangement woes.I don't like to give spoilers as this movie is a fun " Black Comedy" and to give away too much detail spoils this film for people who haven't had the experince of watching it. Jessica Lange is great as Cousin Bette yet an older uglier actress would've played the role more convincingly. But in that day and age if you were as old as Ms Lange character was an unmarried then you were doomed for love as her character portrays, so I guess really she isn't that miscast. Elisabeth Shue finally has done another good movie since Leaving Las Vegas and actually can hold a note suprisingly. Young actor Aden Young who was just awesome in his first film role in the movie Black Robe is equally as good here as the artist who Cousin Bette loves and upon being rejected by the boy who is young to enough to be her son then discards and uses to get ahead and gain revenge on her uncaring family members. Bob Hoskins is quite funny in this film role as is Hugh Laurie as the family father who loves Ms Shue's character Jenny Cadine the courtesan enough to flounder the family fortune. Really great black comedy.**** out of *****

Cousin Bette, a period piece, set in mid nineteenth century shows the moral, social and economic bankruptcy of noble class prior to upheaval in a perversely funny series of backstabbing and double-crossing orchestrated by Ms. Lange, a poor disen- franchised but strong willed cunning cousin. The other actors Ms. Shue, Mr. Hoskins, Mr. Young were excellent as well. The dialogue was well written as to be naturally funny even when dealing with death, betrayal, or malicious conniving. My thanks to all involved for wonderful afternoon's entertainment.

This movie is fun in that it has Jessica Lange (undoubtedly one of the best actresses ever to live)playing a spinstress whose life is fairly empty until she rescues a poor ugly man who is a bit younger than she. In her world, people turn on her without a second thought...it's quite the morality tale...she merely leads them by their own will to their doom. Sweetly.

---spoilers--- I haven't read the book as I never could get on with Balzac - those movie or TV adaptations I've seen were always interesting but didn't touch my heart. So I can't comment on whether this movie seems faithful to the book. I found the movie is very good and very well acted. I was readily able to admire Cousin Bette who has been treated disgracefully over her life one way and another, lost the first man she loved to another woman and later loses another man to his daughter.... and eventually loses patience with being taken advantage of. I could also happily despise the nasty young Germanm sculptor she so unwisely falls for, what an arrogant irritating twerp. Being English I'm used to Hugh Laurie being only a comedian and it was interesting to see him in a more serious part as the family's patriach. But I'm mystified by one aspect of the story. Toby Stephens is cast as a son of the family, Victorin, and the only one with a brain in his head and one feels for his frustration as the rest of his family behave like idiots. Is he intended to be priggish? Hardly surprising since without him managing the estate and the shockingly large loans that're all keeping them going and his father so determinedly squanders on a showgirl and general stupidity, they'd all have been in the poorhouse long ago. Yet when it comes to retribution time, why is Victorin forced to flee with his family so as to avoid being murdered by one of the lenders calling in the money whilst no-one else suffers or does someone pay off the debts? If the theme is Bette's retribution, what on earth has she got against Victorin? And if the theme is wider than her personal retribution, it's not exactly clear. Perhaps there is an explanation in the book that was omittied from the movie, or the theme is that Victorin must suffer because he doesn't stop his father's excesses. But at least it seems he escapes to build a new, safer life with his family, whilst the rest of them suffer far worse. As people who live to excess and get themselves into trouble are colourful but also can be considerable bores, I would have liked to hear more about the financial aspects and seen Victorin used more in the movie. But what happens to the extensive debts? At the end we see Bette living in the great house but what do they live on? Perhaps the book explains this, I certainly hope so. I'd have given 8 stars but for those two quibbles.

They're both set in France, they both have people behaving badly, and both have wise women running the show behind the scenes. Beautiful settings and costumes. Elisabeth Shue is very good, and I REALLY liked Jessica Lange. Enjoy!

This could've (and should've) been a devious black comedic romp through the stiff-collared 1800s. If only the editor of the trailer could have a whack at the whole feature. Jessica Lange is fine in a restrained performance of cousin Bette, a matronly woman who has been in love with her cousin's husband. When her cousin dies, she attempts to take her place and accepts the man's proposal. It's not a marriage proposal, as she believed, but a proposal that she be the children's governess. This builds the seamy hatefulness in her heart and she begins to manipulate and turn family and community members against each other. All to make someone love her. The supporting cast offers a mixed bag of performances. Bob Hoskins is winning as the lecherous, but rich old man who seeks the young daughter of Bette's cousin. Elizabeth Shue sometimes seems like she's just wandered off the set of Showgirls. The moody young artist is about as easy to care about as anyone from MTV's the Real World. The final shot (of Elizabeth Shue in a habit, turning around to expose her butt), although hilarious, just doesn't work. It's just slapped right on the end of the film. Had the narrative structure throughout the script drawn parallels between the show and the show with the show, it might have worked. Introducing this idea only in the final shot simply makes the filmmaking self-conscious, and shows off the uneven creativity of the film itself.

The film, actually, had excellent continuity. That was one thing I noticed since the shots were very sporadic. They always caught the character doing the same action he/she was doing before the cut. That is a hard job for any editor and takes an eye for detail. I enjoyed the film very much. As someone who watches a lot of historic fiction, I thought the costumes (except for Bette's - if she was a costume maker, she could have made herself much better clothes) were wonderful, especially Hortense's. I enjoyed Jenny Cadine's character as well as Bob Hoskin's portrayal of Cesar Crevel. One critique I have is that the atmosphere was not very French. Hortense could pass, but everyone else was rather English-looking. I understand they were English actors, but I feel there could have been more effort. Bottom line: Plot was devilish and delightful. And Jessica Lange was perfect (between this movie and Hush with Gwyneth Paltrow, the woman kind of freaks me out).