Belle de Jour
BELLE DE JOURÂ (15)
D:Â Luis BunuelÂ
Paris Film (Robert Hakim & Raymond
Hakim)
France/Italy 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 1967
100 mins
Drama
W:Â Luis Bunuel & Jean-Claude
Carriere [based on the novel by Joseph Kessel]
DP:Â Sacha Vierny
Ed: Louisette Hautecoeur & Walter Spoht
PD: Robert Clavel
Cos: Helene Noury & Yves Saint Laurent
Catherine Deneuve (Séverine Serizy / Belle de
Jour), Jean Sorel (Pierre Serizy), Michel Piccoli (Henri Husson), Genevieve Page (Madame Anais), Pierre Clementi (Marcel), Francisco Rabal (Hippolyte)
Catherine Deneuve stars as a sexually-repressed housewife
who begins working as a prostitute, but only in the afternoons, earning her the name Belle de Jour.
The film is typically Luis Bunuel, mixing scenes of
fantasy into the narrative with seamless effect. The cinematography is exquisite, as are some of the costumes which the beautiful Catherine Deneuve wears.Â
Though the subject matter was hugely controversial for the
1960's, it's rather tame in comparison now, though it has inspired many other works.Â
The final scene, like the film itself, is an acquired
taste.
8/10
Did You Know:
It has been said that director Luis Buñuel has admitted
that he himself doesn't know what the end of the movie means.