Betty Blue

A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.

Betty Blue (French: 37°2 le matin, lit. '37.2°C in the Morning') is a 1986 French erotic psychological drama film written and directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, based on the 1985 novel 37°2 le matin by Philippe Djian. The film stars Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle.^[5] It was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1986 in France.^[4]

The film received both a BAFTA Award and Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1987.

Zorg, an aspiring writer in his 30s, makes a living as a handyman for a community of beach houses in the seaside resort of Gruissan on France's Mediterranean coast. He meets Betty, a volatile and impulsive 19-year-old woman, and the two begin a passionate affair, living in his borrowed shack on the beach. Following a row with him where she tears apart and smashes up the house, she finds the manuscript of his first novel she reads it in one long sitting and decides that he is a genius. However, after another argument with his boss, she empties the shack and burns it down.

The two decamp to the outskirts of Paris and settle into a small hotel owned by Betty's friend Lisa. Betty laboriously types out Zorg's novel and submits it to several local publishers. They meet Lisa's new boyfriend, Eddy, and the four have many fun times, often fuelled by alcohol. Zorg and Betty find work at Eddy's pizzeria, but a fight erupts in which Betty stabs a demanding customer with a fork. Zorg tries to slap her back to her senses.