alr

Betty Blue
(37°2 le matin)

Screening on Film
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix.
With Béatrice Dalle, Jean-Hughes Anglade, Gérard Darmon.
France, 1986, 35mm, color, 130 min.
French with English subtitles.
Print source: HFA

I is for Insanity

Beineix’s torrid tale of passion focuses on the reckless relationship between a Riviera handyman who dreams of becoming a writer and a disgruntled waitress careening toward madness. While she takes him on a journey that opens new possibilities for his staid, provincial life, their path ultimately leads to her own undoing. Explosively erotic, this is a flamboyant hymn to youthful abandon, emotional excess, and romanticized self-destruction. Although the film gained most of its notoriety for its graphic depiction of sexuality, Beineix’s work can now be seen, along with the films of his contemporary Léos Carax, as a hyper-realist view of the darker side of romance.

Part of film series

Read more

Cinema A–Z: Treasures from the Harvard Film Archive

Other film series with this film

Read more

Amour Fou

Current and upcoming film series

Read more

The Reincarnations of Delphine Seyrig

Read more

Rosine Mbakam, 2025 McMillan-Stewart Fellow

Read more

The Illusory Tableaux of Georges Méliès

Read more

Activism and Post-Activism. Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981-2022

Read more

Fables of the Reconstruction. Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias

Read more

Ben Rivers, Back to the Land

Read more

Harvard Undergraduate Cinematheque

Read more

Make Way for Tomorrow. Carson Lund’s Eephus

Read more

Jessica Sarah Rinland’s Collective Monologue