The film we will discuss this month is Luis Bunuel’s 1967 Belle de Jour, starring a 24-year-old Catherine Deneuve. It is considered a masterpiece and is certainly an icon of its era.
Of Catherine Deneuve and Buñuel’s daring film, critic David Thomson says, “That fantastic coolness she had in the 1960s has gone. But Belle de Jour remains, and is back now – one of the greatest of films, and quite out of fashion in that it believes nothing matters at the movies but our desire and how we look at beauty. There was a time, in the late 60s and early 70s, when we were face to face with how closely horror and beauty sat together, and how they fused, chemically or biologically. It was too scary. So we do not do it now. But if you watch Belle de Jour, you may see how fearless and hopeless we were then.”
Note to cinephiles: the film has recently been restored in 4K and is touring the country’s art houses in limited release.
Screen the film at home on Max, The Criterion Channel, Apple TV, or Amazon Video, and then join Joelle Pluchon and Peter Zingg at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 28,for a bilingual discussion on Zoom.
Film Details
Original title / Titre originale: Belle de jour (1967)
Running time / Durée: 1h41m
Genres: Drama, Romance
Directed by / Réalisé par: Luis Buñuel
Casting: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page, Pierre Clémenti
Stream it online / Regarder sur: Max, Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video
Séverine Serizy est une jeune et très belle femme aux fantasmes masochistes assez particuliers. Elle est mariée au docteur Pierre Serizy qu’elle aime « au-delà du plaisir » : elle ne parvient en effet pas à trouver le plaisir auprès de lui, ce qui les frustre tous les deux. Un ami du couple, Monsieur Henri Husson, lui parle d’un bordel de luxe et lui avoue son désir pour elle. Insatisfaite sexuellement, Séverine commence secrètement à y travailler, se prostituant seulement certains après-midi de 14 à 17 heures, d’où son surnom Belle de jour, avant de retourner dans les bras de son mari, qui, heureux, ne se doute de rien.
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.