Main Cast: Jessica Lange, Elisabeth Shue, Bob Hoskins, Hugh Laurie, Kelly MacDonald
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Acclaimed theater director Des McAnuff made his feature-film directorial debut with this period comedy-drama adapted from Honore de Balzac's novel La Cousine Bette (1846) about a jealous and bitter spinster who attempts to destroy the romance between her niece and a Polish sculptor. In Paris of the 1840s, spinster Bette Fisher (Jessica Lange) steps in to "take care" of her relatives after a decline in the Hulot family fortunes, mainly due to wastrel Hector Hulot (Hugh Laurie). After penniless sculptor Wenceslas Steinbach (Aden Young) marries Hector's daughter, Hortense (Kelly Macdonald), Bette schemes and plots, drawing Hector's mistress, music-hall star Jenny Cadine (Elisabeth Shue), into her web by arranging for wealthy Cesar Crevel (Bob Hoskins) to become Jenny's benefactor. Filmed at locations in and around Bordeaux. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Didier Naert - Art Director, Rodney Liber - Associate Producer, Neris Thomas - Associate Producer, Mary Margiotta - Casting, Karen Margiotta - Casting, Liora Reich - Casting, Jane Gibson - Choreography, Philippe Guez - Co-producer, Gabriella Pescucci - Costume Designer, Eric Bartonio - First Assistant Director, Des McAnuff - Director, Barry Alexander Brown - Editor, Tariq Anwar - Editor, Lynn Siefert - Executive Producer, Rob Scheidlinger - Executive Producer, Susan Tarr - Executive Producer, Simon Boswell - Composer (Music Score), Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski - Production Designer, Andrzej Sekula - Cinematographer, Sarah Radclyffe - Producer, Robert Le Corre - Set Designer, Drew Kunin - Sound/Sound Designer, Lynn Siefert - Screenwriter, Susan Tarr - Screenwriter, Honoré de Balzac - Book Author
