Cousin Bette

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff
Director:Des McAnuff
Writers:Lynn Siefert and Susan Tarr
Director of Photography:Andrzej Sekula
Editor:Barry Brown
Music:Simon Boswell
Production Designer:Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
Producers:Sarah Radclyffe and Philippe Guez
Fox Searchlight Pictures; R; 112 minutes
Release:6/98
Cast:Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins, Hugh Laurie, Aden Young, Kelly Macdonald and Geraldine Chaplin
Based on the novel by Honoré de Balzac

Jessica Lange plays Bette, a bitter Parisian spinster who seeks revenge on her snobbish relatives for treating her like a servant. To assist her in her schemes, she enlists a sculptor named Wenceslas (Young) and the two attempt to wreak havoc in various social circles. Based on the rather dense 19th century novel by Balzac, there are a host of minor characters and plot lines, all meant to be mischievous and erotic. But Lange, Young and Shue (who plays a high-class courtesan) spoil the mood with one too many decidedly unsexy displays of histrionics.


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