Cousin Bette (film)
| Cousin Bette | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Des McAnuff |
| Produced by | Sarah Radclyffe |
| Written by |
Honoré de Balzac (novel) Lynn Siefert Susan Tarr |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Simon Boswell |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Sekuła |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,161,063 |
Cousin Bette is a 1998 British-American comedy-drama film starring Jessica Lange in the title role and is loosely based on the Honoré de Balzac Cousin Bette.
At the deathbed of her wealthy cousin Adeline (Chaplin), poor seamstress Bette Fischer (Lange) promises to take care of her cousin's family. However Baron Hector Hulot (Laurie), her late cousin's husband, still knowingly treats her as a "housekeeper", giving her charge over his daughter Hortense (Kelly Macdonald). Refusing the offer to stay in Hulot's home, Bette returns to her apartment in a rundown poorer district of Paris, where she makes costumes for a Burlesque theatre. She becomes friends with the headliner of the show, famed courtesan Jenny Cadine (Shue). Bette finds a source of comfort in Count Wenceslas Steinbach (Aden Young), a young but promising artist who has fallen on hard times. Besotted by the young man, Bette does everything possible to provide for him such as buying him food and motivating him to continue with his work. One day, Bette tells Hortense of her "sweetheart" Wenceslas.
Intrigued, Hortense goes to an antique shop near Bette's apartment to look at some of his work. Wenceslas himself walks in and, instantly attracted to him, Hortense tells her father she has found her future husband and entreats him to use his influence to commission Wenceslas to create a prominent statue. Over time, Wenceslas starts sneaking out to court Hortense. Bette follows him one day after Jenny inadvertently arouses her suspicions by mentioning that Lord Hulot, who is her lover, gave her a piece of artwork that came from his future son-in-law; Bette recognizes the artwork as Wenceslas's.
Furious at Wenceslas's betrayal, Bette swears revenge and enlists Jenny to help her. Bette's plan, in essence, is to turn the family members against each other. After the birth of Hortense's and Wencelas' son, Bette implies to Hortense that there have been "rumours" regarding Wenceslas's fidelity to her. She also encourages Cesar Cravel (Hoskins), a wealthy perfumer, to pursue Jenny as it is becoming known that Hulot owes huge debts to various money lenders and acquaintances. Hulot, however, is genuinely in love with Jenny and, at Bette's encouragement, challenges Cesar to a duel. Cesar shoots Hulot in the leg, but instantly regrets it and helps him with the doctor. The resulting injury leaves Hulot walking with a limp.
Meanwhile with the family losing money, Bette encourages Hulot's son and Cravel's son-in-law Victorin (Toby Stephens) to go to a shady money lender in her district. But he cannot pay off the debts in time and is forced later on to flee with his family when the money lender threatens his life. The Hulot family's last hope of financial aid is the sculpture Wenceslas has created. However he is shown to be lacking in inspiration, and when the sculpture is unveiled it is only a lump of marble from which sprouts a crude arm wielding a sword. This embarrassment also loses the family a lot of money, since Hulot resolves to repay the commission that had been paid to Wenceslas. In desperation, Hortense offers herself to Cesar, as he had said earlier in the film that he would pay 200,000 francs for a glimpse of her naked. But the good-hearted Cesar says she does not need to sleep with him and tells her he will give her the money that day.
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