The Fundy Film Society

Betty Fisher et Autres Histoires

Based on Ruth Rendell’s novel Tree of Hands, this acclaimed psychological thriller – which was awarded the International Critics (FIPRESCI) Prize at the Montreal World Film Festival, where the three lead actresses also shared the Best Actress Award – tells the interconnected stories of three women whose lives collide in dramatic fashion. Betty (Sandrine Kiberlain, Cyrano De Bergerac), a successful young novelist, lives happily with her young son, Joseph. A few blocks from Betty, working in a shopping mall bar, is Carole (Mathilde Seigner, With A Friend Like Harry), who barely pays any attention to her unwanted son José. The lives of these two women are brought together in unexpected ways when Betty’s unstable mother, Margot (Nicole Garcia, Kennedy Et Moi), bursts back into her daughter’s life after a long, mysterious absence. When a sudden accident leaves Betty crippled with grief, lost in a numbing haze of tranquilizers, Margot tries to ease her sorrow by introducing her to the abused and abandoned José. Upon discovering that José has in fact been kidnapped, Betty sets out to uncover the truth, and instead finds information that threatens to shatter her life and the lives of those around her. Betty Fisher Et Autres Histoires is superbly crafted with taut direction from award-winning veteran Claude Miller, whose early work as an assistant for some of France’s greatest directors – including Robert Bresson, Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut – is clearly evident in the aesthetics of his approach.

“A dashing and absorbing outing with one of France’s most inventive directors.” – The Globe and Mail

“A small gem of a movie that defies classification and is as thought-provoking as it is funny, scary and sad.” – The Toronto Sun