Power of negative thought

>> Claude Miller discusses his psychological thriller Betty Fisher et autres histoires

by JASON BOGDANERIS

While critics have been tripping over themselves praising the sunny world-view of French megahit Amélie Poulin, French director Claude Miller offers moviegoers a darker vision. Betty Fisher et autres histoires is a cerebral thriller featuring a jigsaw puzzle of desperate characters.

Looking more like a slightly nervous professor than an acclaimed director, he leans forward in his seat and confides his trepidation over transposing a story by noted author Ruth Rendell to the screen. He was especially concerned about the mystery writer’s profile since the story had already been made into a TV movie, which she reportedly hated. “I was a bit worried since whenever you adapt a novel you betray it a little,” he says. He sounds genuinely relieved to report she was happy this time around.

Anyone familiar with the Rendell oeuvre will recognize the challenge of doing her morally ambiguous stories justice. Betty is a successful writer who is forced to relive her traumatic childhood when her mentally unstable mother comes to visit. Then, just as old wounds are re-opened, tragedy strikes: Betty’s young son is killed in an accident. Desperate to make amends for the past, Betty’s loopy mom kidnaps another boy from a playground. As fate would have it, the boy’s real mother is horribly unfit and abusive, further complicating things. Throw into the mix an unscrupulous gigolo, an emasculated boyfriend bent on revenge and Betty’s slimy ex-husband, and you have the makings of a very twisted tale.

Instead of a conventional whodunit, the film is interested in what motivates everyone involved. Miller takes great care in creating multidimensional characters that come across like real people instead of genre clichés. “I spent lots and lots of time writing the script’s dialogue myself, which is critical, and then had readings with actors individually to identify lines that don’t ring true,” he says.
This focus on realistic cinema probably has a lot to do with the fact Miller spent his early years as assistant director to the great François Truffaut. “When you make a film, don’t make the reality portrayed look like a cinema reality but a living reality,” is the way Miller puts it.
He contrasts this with the trend towards homegrown Hollywood-style fluff which is all the rage in France these days. “Why would you want filmmakers to be like dope dealers?” he asks, “giving feel-good injections?”

Betty Fisher et autres histoires certainly isn’t a feel-good picture. It portrays characters fuelled by envy and frustration, whose actions are at times deplorable but never random. “What I liked about this story was that each one of them acts with plenty of good reasons,” Miller adds.

And does he share the film’s rather bleak outlook? “I am a pessimist,” he confirms, “but that doesn’t prevent me from going forward… being an optimist is very, very dangerous while Rome burns.” He then mentions a book title he saw recently that summed it up perfectly. “‘The positive aspects of negative thinking,’” he announces, chuckling. “I liked that title because that’s exactly how I think.” :

Betty Fisher et autres histoires opens Feb. 8