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Belle de jour | Year: 1968 Directed: - Luis Buñuel Actors/Actresses: - Catherine Deneuve - Jean Sorel Once again Bunuel skewers the bourgeoisie There are some very perceptive reviews of this film already posted, so I will mostly just comment on aspects they don't emphasize. First and foremost is the master's interest in class issues. Although sexual obsession may be the foreground theme here, the shallow, petty, and ultimately self-defeating behavior of the upper middle class is never totally absent as a background theme. Aside from Severine's own vapid behavior, which she pursues heedless of the possible consequences, her husband and his "friend" Husson are depicted as an ineffectual man and a malicious one, whose individual actions (or lack thereof) contribute to Severine's predicament. The screenplay is also quite amusing at times, and I think this further indicates Bunuel's satirical intent. Severine's early fantasies are really classic schoolgirl daydreams (well, OK, this schoolgirl may have read de Sade) and it's hard not to giggle at the sight of elaborately costumed coachmen whipping our heroine while hubby, striking a Bogart-like pose, lights a cigarette (he does this a lot). There are a number of other such moments. Even Deneuve's succession of stunning Yves St. Laurent outfits can be read as a satire of the typical commercial movie's obsession with surface glamor. The very sheen of Bunuel's imagery takes us further inside the worldview of his protagonist. I, too, hope this film ultimately gets a better transfer to DVD. In the outdoor scenes, the fading and color shift (green to blue) are especially noticeable. Was there no better print to work from? Please, Criterion, consider restoring this. That's the only reason it gets four stars instead of five. Still worth having, of course! Unique, Strange, and Memorable The premise of BELLE DU JOUR is well known. A young, beautiful, and slightly frigid doctor's wife (Catherine Deneuve) secretly harbors fantasies of being dominated, humiliated, and abused by her husband (Jean Sorel.) When these fantasies can no longer be denied, she becomes a prostitute under the sponsorship of a possibly lesbian madam (Geneviève Page), working during the afternoons while her husband is at his own work. Her sexuality is awakened by the sometimes brutish clients, who soon discover that "she likes it rough," and she is ultimately caught up a relationship with a truly dangerous client (Pierre Clémenti) whose possessiveness threatens to destroy both her and her husband. Throughout the film Deneuve slips in and out of memory and fantasy, sometimes recalling herself as a possibly molested child, sometimes imagining herself as the victim in a series of sexual assault fantasies. Director Bunuel, whose masterpiece this is, so blurs the line between memory, reality, and fantasy that by the film's conclusion one cannot be sure if some, most, or everything about the film has been Deneuve's fantasy. Although it includes a number of impressive performances (particularly by Geneviève Page, her girls, and their clients), BELLE is essentially Deneuve's film from start to finish, and she gives an astonishing performance that cannot be easily described. Like the film itself, it is a balancing act between fantasy and a plausible reality that may actually be nothing of the kind. Bunuel presents both her and the film as a whole in an almost clinical manner, and is less interested in gaining our sympathy for the character than in presenting her as an object for intellectual observation. Ultimately, BELLE DU JOUR seems to be about a lot of things, some of them obvious and some of them extremely subtle. And yet, given the way in which it undercuts its realities by blurring them with fantasy, it is also entirely possible that the film is not actually "about" anything except itself. Individuals who insist on clear-cut meanings and neatly wrapped conclusions will probably loathe it--but those prepared to accept the film on its own terms will find it a fascinating experience. Recommended. okay Somewhat disappointed, very limited action, easy enough to follow. Buy Belle De Jour at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Belle De Jour Search with the Priority Search Engine on Belle De Jour This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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