Cousin Bette is a poor and lonely seamstress, who, after the death of her prominent and wealthy sister, tries to ingratiate herself into lives of her brother-in-law, Baron Hulot, and her Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins. Cousin Bette is a poor and lonely seamstress.
Table of contents
The malicious grin on Bette's face lets us know what is coming. Bette orchestrates her revenge on each member of the family, with a cunning her family never suspected. Part of what makes this film so delicious is that none of the characters are really very likeable, but they are all very interesting and well drawn. Even Bette is not someone you would want to welcome into your own family although she'd make a fascinating guest at a dinner party. The only character who fares even mildly well is Cesar Crevel Bob Hoskins.
A merchant who has become the wealthiest man in Paris, he is attempting to buy his way to respectability. He is at least without pretense, even going so far as to offer , francs to see Hortense Hulot the Baron's daughter, played by Kelly MacDonald naked. The story follows Bette's attempts to destroy the Baron and his family by manipulating them in their love affairs.
The marriage of Hortense is expected to save the family financially, hence the appearance of Crevel. Meanwhile the Baron has been borrowing from everyone in Paris to keep his mistress, Jenny Cadine. Bette controls all of the characters like a Grand Master. The backdrop to the film is the decay of the French aristocratic society. Resting on the laurels of the Empire of Napoleon, oblivious to the coming revolution the film begins in , and in complete denial of the changes around them, we actually cheer for Bette as she systematically destroys the Hulot family.
In a way it's the revolution carried out from within, making the fall all the more sweet. This film is really exceptional. The script is intelligent, clever, and realistic. The acting is very strong all around, especially by Lange. Hoskins is terrific, hitting just the right note of a materialistic man trying to be a nobleman, but not quite getting it.
The locations and sets are lush and as decadent as one would expect. The direction of Des McAnuff is crisp and assured, the pace even and well controlled. Explore popular and recently added TV series available to stream now with Prime Video.
Cousin Bette (film) - Wikipedia
Start your free trial. Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet! Michael Mando Teases 'Spider-Man: Jessica Lange Movies I've Seen. Believing the death of Adeline to result in reward at last, Bette is stricken and infuriated when what she believes to be a proposal of marriage and an offer of a true place in the family from Baron Hulot is, in fact, an offer of employment to work as their unpaid housekeeper. Bette returns to her humble apartment and continues her meager living as the costume maker for a Burlesque theater, where she becomes friends with the headliner of the show: Bette dotes on Wenceslas, giving him money, attention, and guidance.
Under Bette's controlling eye, the lackadaisical young artist grows more successful and productive. Finding joy in her new companion, Bette tells her niece, Hortense, of her "sweetheart" Wenceslas and of her happiness. Hortense, parched from a steady stream of ugly, dull, but wealthy, suitors, is intrigued by her aunt's romantic stories of the handsome artist who happens to be a lord and decides to hunt him down in secret and steal him away from her aunt for an affair.
Preferring youth and beauty, the pair marry and Wenceslas accepts a prestigious art commission that would guarantee his major debut--if successful. Bette views the theft of Wenceslas, whom she loved, as the final betrayal and vows revenge. Enlisting the aid of Jenny, Bette begins to manipulate the Hulot family into succumbing to their baser desires and court their own demises.
One after the other, they fall into ruin under Bette's subtle guidance. Marneffe, with whom he works at the War Department Bette joins them in their new home, to serve as an excuse for the Baron's visits. Panicked, he convinces his uncle Johann Fischer to quietly embezzle funds from a War Department outpost in Algiers.
Crushed at having lost Steinbock's as her intended spouse, Bette swears vengeance on the Hulot family. Her strategy is to work on Baron Hulot's demonstrated weakness for acquiring and lavishing more money than his has on young mistresses. Hortense discovers Steinbock's infidelity and returns to her mother's home.
- Navigation menu.
- Superior Cooking?
- Violin Sonata No.1 - Violin;
- Cousin Betty;
- Cousin Betty by Honoré de Balzac.
- Cousin Betty () - IMDb.
Before long, the Baron's misconduct becomes known to the War Department; Uncle Johann is arrested in Algeria and commits suicide, the Baron is forced to retire suddenly, his brother, a famous war hero, saves him from prison and then quickly dies of shame over the family disgrace. The Baron deserts his family and hides from his creditors.
In short, the family is devastated by these repeated blows - and Bette's machinations are completely concealed from them. Balzac had written more than seventy novels when he began La Cousine Bette , and populated them with recurring characters. Many of the characters in the novel, therefore, appear with extensive back-stories and biographical depth.
Having accumulated a considerable fortune in that book, Crevel spends his time in La Cousine Bette enjoying the spoils of his labor. Another important recurring character is Marshal Hulot, who first appeared as a colonel in Les Chouans. In the years between that story and La Cousine Bette , he became the Count of Forzheim ; in a letter to the Constitutionnel , Balzac described how Marshal Hulot gained this title. Other recurring characters appear only briefly in La Cousine Bette ; previous appearances, however, give deep significance to the characters' presence.
When he resurfaces in La Cousine Bette , he has joined the police and introduces the Hulot family to his aunt, Mme. Nourrison, who offers a morally questionable remedy for their woes. Elsewhere, Balzac presents an entire world of experience by including characters from a particular sphere of society. Balzac's use of recurring characters has been identified as a unique component of his fiction.
It enables a depth of characterization that goes beyond simple narration or dialogue. Detective novelist Arthur Conan Doyle said that he never tried to read Balzac, because he "did not know where to begin". Anthony Pugh, in his book Balzac's Recurring Characters , says that the technique is employed "for the most part without that feeling of self-indulgence that mars some of Balzac's later work.
Download This eBook
Almost every example arises quite naturally out of the situation. Descriptions of Bette are often connected to savagery and animal imagery. The peasant-woman's face was terrible; her piercing black eyes had the glare of the tiger's; her face was like that we ascribe to a pythoness; she set her teeth to keep them from chattering, and her whole frame quivered convulsively.
She had pushed her clenched fingers under her cap to clutch her hair and support her head, which felt too heavy; she was on fire. The smoke of the flame that scorched her seemed to emanate from her wrinkles as from the crevasses rent by a volcanic eruption. When she learns that her cousin Adeline has been welcoming Steinbock into the Hulot home, Bette swears revenge: I will make you uglier than I am.
In a letter to Mme. Hanska, Balzac indicated that he based the character of Bette on three women from his life: Balzac had a tumultuous relationship with his mother for most of his life, and he incorporated some of her personality particularly her "obstinate persistence in living", [37] as one critic calls it into Bette. Hanska's relationship with Balzac; biographers agree that her cold determination was part of the author's recipe for Bette.
They develop a deep friendship, which many critics consider an example of lesbian affection. With obvious parallels to her own activities, she describes her vision for the piece: C'est le cadavre de la force. Dalila, c'est la passion qui ruine tout. Samson is a secondary consideration. He is the corpse of dead strength. It is Delilah—passion—that ruins everything. The tumultuous end of his affair with Louise Breugniot and the advantage she gains from his devotion to Mme. He once wrote to her: Baron Hector Hulot is a living manifestation of male sexual desire, unrestrained and unconcerned with its consequences for the man or his family.
As the novel progresses, he becomes consumed by his libido, even in a physical sense. His financial woes and public disgrace lead him to flee his own home; by the end of the book he is an elderly, decrepit shell of a man.
Cousin Bette
Adeline Hulot, on the other hand, is mercy personified. Like her cousin Bette, she comes from a peasant background, but has internalized the ideals of 19th-century womanhood, including devotion, grace, and deference. She reveals in the first scene that she has known for years about her husband's infidelities, but refuses to condemn him. Adeline's forgiving nature is often considered a significant character flaw. Some suggest that she is partly to blame for Hulot's wandering affection.
Prendergast, for example, calls her forgiveness "an inadequate and even positively disastrous response" to her situation. Balzac's inspiration for the characters of Hector and Adeline remain unclear, but several critics have been eager to speculate. Three officers named Hulot were recognized for their valor in the Napoleonic Wars , and some suggest that Balzac borrowed the name of Comte Hector d'Aure.
None of these men, however, were known for the sort of philandering or thievery exhibited by Baron Hulot in the novel. Instead, Balzac may have used himself as the model; his many affairs with women across the social spectrum lead some to suggest that the author "found much of Hulot in himself". The Polish sculptor Wenceslas Steinbock is important primarily because of Bette's attachment to him. He offers Bette a source of pride, a way for her to prove herself worthy of her family's respect.
When Hortense marries Steinbock, Bette feels as though she has been robbed. Prendergast insists that the incident "must literally be described as an act of theft". Steinbock's relevance also lies in his background and profession, illustrating Balzac's conception of the Polish people, as well as himself.
Having spent more than a decade befriending Mme. Hanska and visiting her family in Poland, Balzac believed he had insight into the national character as he felt about most groups he observed. Thus, descriptions of Steinbock are often laced with commentary about the Polish people: Critics also consider Steinbock important because of his artistic genius. Before he is nurtured and directed by Bette, however, Steinbock's genius languishes under his own inertia and he attempts suicide.