Betty Fisher et Autres Histoires (Betty Fisher and Other Stories) Dir: Claude Miller. Starring: Sandrine Kiberlain, Nicole Garcia, Mathilde Seigner, Luck Mervil, Edouard Baer, Stéphane Freiss, Yves Jacques. It's an oft said comment that bad books make good films, and good books make horribly pretentious movies. Luckily this falls in to the former category, as Miller has taken an only slightly above average novel by the rather tedious Ruth Rendell and turned it in to one of the most invigorating movies of the year. Betty Fisher (Sandrine Kiberlain) is a critically acclaimed novelist, and daughter of a unfortunately unstable and occasionally dangerous mother, Margot, (Nicole Garcia) prone to bouts of violence, as is so effectively shown in the opening moments of the film, and who comes to stay with Betty. After Betty's son dies in a tragic accident, and falls in to a deep and dark depression, Margot kidnaps another boy, which despite her attempts to resist, Betty falls in love with. The film also delves into the life of the child's oddly relieved mother, Carol (Luck Mervil) and her various lovers, and adds a surprisingly, but not constant, lightness to proceedings, and prevents it from becoming too downbeat.

When British tv has attempted to adapt a Ruth Rendell novel to the small screen in the past, they've almost always managed to screw things up. The casting hasn't helped, but its not this alone - too often they've just trotted out another sub-Morse murder mystery, rather than ever getting under the skins of the various characters, and they've never even got close to producing a thoughtful study of people in odd and uncomfortable situations in the way Claude Miller has. Fortunately, this isn't your standard crime thriller anyway, more an in-depth study of how parents so easily screw you up, and how love, and the lack of it, effects so many decisions you make in life. Like Altman's Nashville and Short Cuts, it dips in and out of the various characters lives, as they often cross paths unknowingly, and whilst the denouement is slightly unrealistic, very little else in the film is, all too it's credit. It's less poetic than Short Cuts, and much more reality based, but it's equally as evocative and affecting. And though like much of the French fare that hits out shores, this may not be in the same league as Amelie, it really is worthy of many a critic's end of year top 10 lists, as Miller has managed to create one of the most realistic and touching drama's seen in years. Beautifully scripted and shot, Betty Fisher and Other Stories takes the time to capture it's characters slightest reactions and emotions, is intelligently handled and never patronises the audience. Examining so many important themes - parenthood, death, love, loss, and despair, it really deserves to be seen by a larger audience than it no doubt will attract. And unlike too many films of late, the soundtrack adds rather than detracts to events, with a beautiful instrumental score adding much tension in the final moments that won't leave your memory for a long time. I know we here at gc(uk) moan a lot about the mediocrity of too many American films, but this really is the kind of film that makes you question why you ever bother viewing the all too many unsatisfying Studio blockbusters that hit our shores with such annoying regularity. This is one of the freshest, thoughtful, fulfilling and satisfying movies I've seen in a long time, and perhaps more importantly, quite simply a rather special film. Alex Finch. Tell us what you think of this review on our discussion forums now!

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