Betty Blue is one of my favourite films. There’s actually a funny story about seeing it the first time. I’d just met this girl and we decided to see a film on our first date. I’d heard good reviews of Betty Blue so we went over to the Laemmle’s Royal to see it. Opening credits, and then graphic sex for about five minutes. A bit embarassing on the first date.
But after the unexpected beginning, we enjoyed the film. It started out funny and ended as a tragedy, and the transition was done so smoothly we didn’t notice it. Quite a good bit of cinema!
I tried to buy a copy on VHS a dozen-or-so years ago, but I didn’t have $100 for it. I never did see it sold for private viewing. (Video stores paid about five times what the public pays for the right to rent films to the public.) Eventually I had to bootleg a copy, since that’s the only way I could have it. It’s long been out of print.
About a year ago I saw that it was on DVD. The “Director’s Cut”, no less! I contacted the seller in Australia only to find out that it was not available in NTSC format. Bugger! Then, while browsing eBay, I found an NTSC copy. How? Where? But there it is! I bought it and finally received it from Hong Kong. I couldn’t read the South Korean text on the box, but what the hell? I had Betty Blue on DVD in NTSC format. Yes!
Today I got around to putting it in the player. Guess what? It’s censored! The action is all there, and breasts are not censored; but the nether regions have spots over them. Sometimes the spots are flesh-tone, and other times they are black. What the freak? Now, I have no desire to gaze on Jean-Hughes Anglade’s naughty bits. I’ll confess a slight desire to see Béatrice Dalle’s, but it’s not the reason I like the film. But those spots draw attention to the groinage. They’re distracting.
Aside from the fact that the director didn’t want to hide the genetalia, it’s silly to censor them! Who’s going to watch a film like Betty Blue? Buffy and Jody and Mrs. Beasly? I don’t think so. The film is intended for adults, and adults are the ones who will be watching it. Heck, I’ve heard some adults have seen penises and vaginas in real life. Some have even touched them! Surely they shouldn’t be hidden on a work of art? And those spots are so distracting that they detract from the film.
I guess I’ll just have to wait for a U.S. realease before I can see one of my favourite films uncensored on DVD. But when will that be? Maybe never. 