COUSIN BETTE (1998) A Film Review by Ted Prigge Copyright 1998 Ted Prigge
Director: Des McAnuff Writers: Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr (based on the novel by Honoré de Balzac) Starring: Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, Kelly MacDonald, Aden Young, Hugh Laurie, Bob Hoskins, Toby Stephens, Geraldine Chaplin
"Cousin Bette" presents us with a nasty yet lovable revenge plan that we follow from Square One, yet the best thing about this film is that the one doing the revenge is probably the least evil of everyone else in this movie. Perhaps it's because she, unlike everyone else, isn't obsessed with greed or sex.
Balsac's novel, like many of his works, is a scathing little portrait of the society of his time, where everyone's motivation was the aquisition of money and the greatness of a man was measured in how rich he was. When one man slips into a pit of depression, it's because he's damn near flat broke and his reputation in society is at an end. The movie, like the book, questions our choice of whom to like: the woman who's trying to destroy everyone else, or everyone else who are all a bunch of greedy gits?
The aforementioned woman is the eponomysly titled character, played by Jessica Lange with her hair dyed black and always in a bun above her head, giving her the appropriate feel of bitterness and loneliness. The cousin of a rich family, she tends to the deathbed of her cousin, Adeline Hulot (everybody's favorite living Chaplin, Geraldine), and even though she has basically raised the children as her own and kissed enough ass through her days, she discovers that her cousin's death doesn't mean the sorta-promotion into wealth that she feels she deserved, but rather a new job title as "nanny."
Bette is pissed off not so much at the loss of money, but more at the lack of love and adoration she deserves. She decides to hatch a revenge scheme, moving everyone she meets like a pawn in her plan. She first meets up with a piss-poor sculpturer who lives below her, Count Wenceslas Steinbach (Aden Young), who just happens to be the type for her cousin's young daughter, Hortense (Kelly MacDonald, Diane from "Trainspotting," only now British and a tad older). Meanwhile, she also manages to enlist the help of one Jenny Cadine (Elisabeth Shue), a sultry actress of sorts at the local burlesque house where Bette works, and also the mistress of many a man in Paris, namely Bette's cousin's widower, Hector (the great Hugh Laurie).
Much of what Bette does is improvisational, and it's a treat watching her slowly, over the course of almost a year (or so) destroy the very people who have almost destroyed her (even Hortense, who's still an innocent victim), but that's not the real point of the film. Bette is a horrible person, and by the final shot, it has obtained a kind of scariness that is simply unsettling. But it's not so much about the revenge plan that makes this film interesting, as it is watching all the pawns in her plan meander around in search of happiness in wealth and sex. We see Wenceslas turn from a greedy sculpturer into a pathetic sloth, whose speeches about how great his work will be are ten fold more intriguing than the final project (isn't that what it's always like with artists?). And we see Jenny turn from skank to hopeful happy person back into skank again, all because she can't live without two things: money and people who adore her and give her money.
Directed by Tony Award-Winning Broadway director Des McAnuff, this film is a lavish period piece, with wonderful costumes, a wonderfully classical score, and some great period detail (though, sadly, nary a French accent in the entire film). But unlike the films that belong in the Merchant-Ivory category of period pieces ("Howards End," "The Remains of the Day," blah blah blah), it has a more light, comical feel to it. Everything from the casting (Bob Hoskins and Hugh Laurie playing off eachother - classic) to the bright cinematography (not to mention the sex and nudity - Shue bares her behind four - count 'em - four times) gives it a distinct feel that separates it from the other so-called "period pieces."
That's probably because Balsac is so much different from, say, Henry James or Jane Austen. Though all are satirists in their own respects (see "Sense and Sensibility" for some good, fun satire), he was much more bleak and comical. The film seems to love mocking the aristocrats because they could only live with money and spoke as if they actually knew what they were talking about. While this does become a tad arduous at times to watch (especially in the more dramatic moments, which sometimes makes the film a tad, well, moody), it nevertheless actually carries on into the 90s, and makes this fairly accessible to modern-day audiences since these kinds of people still, in fact, exist.
I enjoyed this film, as I do most clever social satires, but what I liked most is that it chose a very good protagonist. Bette is a terrible person, but she's the best protagonist you could come up with, at least in this film because she's bitter, not greedy. And she's likable for the sole reason that out of all the characters in this film, she's the least shallow and sadly the best person. Disturbing.
MY RATING (out of 4): ***
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