Cousin Bette
Released June 1998
Starring Jessica Lange (as Bette Fisher), Elisabeth Shue, Geraldine Chaplin, Toby Stephens, John Benfield, Bob Hoskins
Directed by Des McAnuff
107 min.Box Office gross - $1.1 million
See complete credits at Internet Movie Database
Cousin Bette is an adaptation of the classic French novel by Honore de Balzac. It concerns a repressed spinster who has been treated like a servant by her wealthy family and has lived in the shadow of her sister all her life. When her sister dies, she expects to take her place as lady of the house, but her brother in law does not want to remarry and instead asks her to become his housekeeper. When Bette is further scorned by a young starving artist whom she takes as her lover, she decides to take vengeance on him and the entire family.
Billed as a dark comedy, Cousin Bette is filled with sex, blackmail and revenge. Lange appears here in a dark wig and seems to enjoy every minute of it. It was a completely different type of role for her. She said “I couldn't use my hands, couldn't use my body really, I had to maintain a certain posture. I couldn't use a lot of facial expressions because she wouldn't have, emotionally she wouldn't have. At the time, you didn't show that. It was an interesting character for me to play, a good departure for me."
Tony award winning director Des McAnuff (Tommy) makes his film directing debut here and does an excellent job at depicting life in 1840s Paris.
Critical Sampling:
"Lange's work is wonderfully controlled, her hidden passions expressed with glancing delicacy. - Richard Schickel, Time
"With Lange so recently having played the frighteningly scheming mother in "Hush," you can't help wondering if the actress is getting some bad career advice." - Barbara Shulgasser, San Francisco Examiner
Lange is outstanding as Bette, a clever, conscience-free monster with the face of an angel, one whom we applaud even as she crushes the life out of her victims. - Giala Murray, Empire Magazine