Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Betty Blue Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 27, 2011

French director Jean-Jacques Beineix's "37°2 le matin" a.k.a "Betty Blue" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre. The only supplemental feature on the disc is an interview with director Jean-Jacques Beineix conducted by Tim Rhys of MovieMaker Magazine. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Lovers in Paris

Jean-Jacques Beineix’s 37°2 le matin a.k.a Betty Blue is the type of film that could never be made in America - for a number of reasons. One of them has to do with the fact that in America romantic films cannot be explicit. There can be plenty of lovemaking in them but under the sheets, away from the camera. Another reason is the fact that the main protagonists are also ordinary people who lead ordinary lives. They make as much love as they can and do not try to change the world. They are not on the run, they don’t have any lofty ambitions, and they aren’t planning to kill anyone. They just happen to have found each other and realized that they were meant to be together. In other words, there is no good reason to tell their story. Finally, the film is comprised of various fragments, all of which are in fact memories, which do not have conventional endings.

The memories belong to Zorg (Jean-Hugues Anglade, Killing Zoe, Léon: The Professional), a young man who fixes things in a seaside community in the south of France. He is in a relationship with Betty (Béatrice Dalle, Clubbed to Death, Trouble Every Day), a beautiful girl who likes being naked. They live in a bungalow that has a bad, a table, some chairs, and plenty of books scattered all over the floor.

While arguing with Zorg, Betty accidentally discovers a manuscript he has written and becomes obsessed with it. Shortly after, the two torch their bungalow and head to Paris, where they get a room in a house owned by one of Betty’s childhood friends, Lisa (Consuelo de Haviland, The Unbearable Lightness of Being).

Lisa is young, beautiful, sexually frustrated, and excited to have Zorg and Betty around her because they make her feel alive. A couple of days after they move in, she comes home with Eddy (Gerard Darmon, The Tit and the Moon, Asterix and Obelix Meet Cleopatra), who owns a small pizza parlor and loves red wine. The two couples have plenty of fun together.

When Eddy’s mother dies, he asks if Zorg and Betty would be interested in running the family’s piano store in the country. They immediately agree and leave Paris behind. Eventually, Betty tells Zorg that she is expecting a baby.

Years ago, Betty Blue struck a chord with me because I was in a relationship with a woman who completely changed the way I lived my life. In a way she was like Betty, relentless, demanding, inspiring. Our relationship lacked the drama that enters Betty and Zorg’s relationship during the final third of the film, but there was a time when we felt like them, ready to risk everything, living life to the fullest. We were not experimenting, what we did simply felt right.

Most people have such experiences - obviously, not as intense and certainly not as tragic as Betty and Zorg’s, but there is always one that they vividly remember when they grow older. In Betty Blue, Zorg recalls the time he spent with his "other half", the one woman that made life worth living for him. She wasn’t perfect or easy to tolerate, but she completed him. That’s all.

Lebanese composer Gabriel Yared's (Camille Claudel, The English Patient) soundtrack, a mix of beautiful sax and piano solos, is legendary.

There are two official versions of Betty Blue. The shorter theatrical version runs at approximately 116 minutes. The longer director’s cut (version integrale) of the film runs at approximately 185 minutes. In the theatrical version not only various scenes but complete memories are simply missing.

None: In 1987, Betty Blue was nominated for Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Betty Blue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080i transfer, Jean-Jacques Beineix's Betty Blue arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre.

Cinema Libre's Blu-ray release of the theatrical version of Betty Blue is something of a mixed bag. Detail, clarity, and especially contrast levels are indeed pleasing, but there is some sort of filtering - and I am not referring to traditional DNR - that has been applied to the interlaced transfer to offset motion-judder. As a result, the image has that very unique plastic, extremely smooth look that can be observed when one turns on the TrueMotion filter on many high-end HDTVs. Additionally, when the camera zooms there is obvious trailing that is quite distracting. All of this is indeed very disappointing as the interlaced transfer has clearly been struck from a brand new master. (I own the director's cut of Betty Blue, which Australian distributors Madman released on SDVD quite some time ago, and detail, clarity, and color reproduction are indeed superior on the Blu-ray release, but the film simply does not look like film). This being said, edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. There are no serious stability issues to report in this review either. All in all, this is a puzzling and somewhat disappointing Blu-ray release. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Betty Blue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Cinema Libre have provided optional (yellow) French subtitles for the main feature.

I was really hoping that this Blu-ray release would come with a solid loseless audio track as Betty Blue has an exceptionally beautiful, truly legendary soundtrack that would have greatly benefited from it. Unfortunately, Cinema Libre have provided only a modest lossy audio track. While far from disappointing, the French Dolby Digital 2.0 track is quite underwhelming -- the dynamics are fairly modest, while the bass is rarely active. The dialog, however, is crisp, clean, and very easy to follow. The English translation is good.

Betty Blue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview - a long and very informative interview with director Jean-Jacques Beineix conducted by Tim Rhys of MovieMaker Magazine. In English, not subtitled. (56 min, 1080i).

Betty Blue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jean-Jacques Beineix directed two of the most influential 80s French films: Diva and 37°2 le matin a.k.a Betty Blue. The latter, a film I adore, has now arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinema Libre. Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings about this release - and most definitely not because this isn't the longer director's cut of the film, which I like a lot more than the theatrical version. I was simply not impressed with the technical presentation. The best I could do is recommend that you RENT IT.