Alias Betty (Betty Fisher et autres histoires) (Betty Fisher and Other Stories) (2001)

92% of critics liked it
(51 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(724 ratings)

A woman's grief and her mother's madness lead to strange and unforeseen consequences in this offbeat drama based on a novel by Ruth Rendell. Betty Fisher (Sandrine Kiberlain) is a promising young writer who has a four-year-old son, Joseph (Arthur Setbon). Betty's mother, Margot (Nicole Garcia),… More A woman's grief and her mother's madness lead to strange and unforeseen consequences in this offbeat drama based on a novel by Ruth Rendell. Betty Fisher (Sandrine Kiberlain) is a promising young writer who has a four-year-old son, Joseph (Arthur Setbon). Betty's mother, Margot (Nicole Garcia), comes to visit her from Spain. Betty's relationship with Margot is difficult at best; Margot is emotionally unstable, and once attacked her daughter with a pair of scissors when she was a child. While spending time with Margot, Betty loses track of Joseph for a while, and the boy is severely injured when he falls out of a window. While Joseph is rushed to the hospital, he never regains consciousness and dies later that day. Betty is understandably distraught, and as she sinks deep in sorrow, Margot snatches Jose (Alexis Chatrian), a boy the same age as Joseph who is the son of Carole (Mathilde Seigner), a waitress with a serious drug habit who often delegates care of her child to her new boyfriend, Francois (Luck Mervil). Margot claims that Jose deserves a better parent than Carole, and she gives him to Betty to care for; while Betty is fully aware of the impropriety of Margot's action, the loss of Joseph has left such a void in her life that she reluctantly accepts the child as a way of dealing with her sadness. Betty Fisher et Autres Histoires was directed by one-time Francois Truffaut associate Claude Miller. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.
Directed By: Claude Miller
Written By: Claude Miller
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 15, 2002 Wide
On DVD: Mar 11, 2003
Studio: Wellspring

Critic Reviews

Ed Siegel, Boston Globe
A pleasant enough valentine to Rendell's The Tree of Hands, if a story that deals with child abuse and sexual obsession could be described in those terms.
Matt Weitz, Dallas Morning News
Understated, elegant meditation on motherhood, obligation and coincidence, all wrapped up in the form of an urban thriller.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
The story pulls us in almost immediately -- and the style and cast keep us hooked.
Jonathan Curiel, San Francisco Chronicle
A provocative movie about loss, anger, greed, jealousy, sickness and love.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Cold, pretentious, thoroughly dislikable study in sociopathy.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
If this movie leaves you cool, it also leaves you intriguingly contemplative.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
Mezcla de serie negra "a la francesa" con estudio sórdido sobre la maternidad, Betty Fisher posee la estructura cinematográfica que debe tener una película que entrecruza historias como si fueran piezas de un collage que, al final, se juntan.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A captivating story.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
Like a Tarantino movie with heart, Alias Betty is richly detailed, deftly executed and utterly absorbing.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
This is pretty dicey material. But some unexpected zigs and zags help.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
An ingenious and often harrowing look at damaged people and how families can offer either despair or consolation.
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
Miller is playing so free with emotions, and the fact that children are hostages to fortune, that he makes the audience hostage to his swaggering affectation of seriousness.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
Sharp psychological thriller...about mothers and children.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Either a fascinating study of the relationship between mothers and their children or a disturbing story about sociopaths and their marks.