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aka
Bella di giorno
Directed by Luis Bunuel. Screenplay by Luis Bunuel with the collaboration of Jean-Claude Carriere, based on the novel by Joseph Kessel. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Picoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi.
101 minutes.
Yes, you read right. The title of this movie is French. In fact the whole movie is in French, and subtitled, too. Don't run away. It's worth it.
Actually, this is a bit of an international production. Luis Bunuel, who directed & co-wrote it, is Spanish, and made a lot of his movies in Mexico. The funding for the movie came from both France and Italy. None of this matters a jot, because what Belle de jour (which translates roughly as "Beautiful of the day") mostly is, is good.
Really, really good.
Catherine Deneuve stars as Severine, a young woman who has extreme sadomasochistic fantasies but who is frigid with her husband. Soon Severine is working in a Parisian brothel, her husband none the wiser and just as frustrated. As odd as this sounds, it's just as odd in the movie, and yet it makes a weird kind of sense.
A lot of what makes sense about it is Catherine Deneuve's stunningly beautiful, yet impassive and expressionless face. Deneuve is simply sensational in the role, and her minimalist performance fits beautifully with Bunuel's sparse yet elegant filmmaking style.
There is much that is erotic about Belle de jour, but nothing is actually shown. There is no real nudity, no onscreen sex, unspeakable perversions are only hinted at - often hilariously, as with the often-referenced buzzing box.
Belle de jour is a deep, witty and wise movie which tells us a lot about our own sexualities, the lies we tell one another, and the nature of erotic fantasies. It's also extremely funny, weird and entertaining while still maintaining a cool, aloof tone.
I give it ten out of ten.
© 2002 Joey Narcotic.