Belle de Jour (film)

Belle de Jour
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Luis Buñuel
Written by	Luis Buñuel Jean-Claude Carrière
Based on	Belle de Jour by Joseph Kessel
Produced by	Henri Baum Robert and Raymond Hakim
Starring	Catherine Deneuve Jean Sorel Michel Piccoli Pierre Clémenti
Cinematography	Sacha Vierny
Edited by	Louisette Hautecoeur
Distributed by	Valoria (France) Euro International Films (Italy)
Release date	24 May 1967 (1967-05-24) (France) 14 September 1967 (1967-09-14) (Italy)
Running time	101 minutes
Countries	France[1] Italy[1]
Languages	French Spanish
Box office	$20.2 million[2]

Belle de Jour (pronounced [bɛl də ʒuʁ]) is a 1967 drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, and starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, and Michel Piccoli. Based on the 1928 novel Belle de jour by Joseph Kessel, the film is about a young woman who spends her midweek afternoons as a high-class prostitute, while her husband is at work.^[3]

The title of the film is a play on words on the French term belle de nuit ("beauty of the night", i.e., a prostitute), as Séverine works during the day under the pseudonym "Belle de Jour". Her nickname can also be interpreted as a reference to the French name of the morning glory (Convolvulaceae), meaning "beauty of [the] day", a flower that blooms only during the day.

Belle de Jour is one of Buñuel's most successful and famous films. It won the Golden Lion and the Pasinetti Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival in 1967.^[4]

Plot[]

Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve), a young and beautiful housewife, is unable to share physical intimacy with her husband, Dr. Pierre Serizy (Jean Sorel), despite their love for each other. Her sexual life is restricted to elaborate fantasies involving domination, sadomasochism, and bondage. Although frustrated by his wife's frigidity toward him, he respects her wishes.

While visiting a ski resort, they meet two friends, Henri Husson (Michel Piccoli) and Renée (Macha Méril). Séverine does not like Husson's manner and the way he looks at her. Back in Paris, Séverine meets up with Renée and learns that a common friend, Henriette, now works at a brothel. At her home, Séverine receives roses from Husson and is unsettled by the gesture. At the tennis courts, she meets Husson and they discuss Henriette and houses of pleasure. Husson mentions a high-class brothel to Séverine at 11 Cité Jean de Saumur. He also confesses his desire for her, but Séverine rejects his advances.

Haunted by childhood memories, including one involving a man who appears to touch her inappropriately, Séverine goes to the high-class brothel, which is run by Madame Anaïs (Geneviève Page). That afternoon Séverine services her first client. Reluctant at first, she responds to the "firm hand" of Madame Anaïs, who names her "Belle de Jour," and has sex with the stranger. After staying away for a week, Séverine returns to the brothel and begins working from two to five o'clock each day, returning to her unsuspecting husband in the evenings. One day, Husson comes to visit her at home, but Séverine refuses to see him. Still, she fantasizes about having sex with him in her husband's presence. At the same time, Séverine's physical relationship with her husband is improving and she begins having sex with him.

Séverine becomes involved with a young criminal, Marcel (Pierre Clémenti), who offers her the kind of thrills and excitement of her fantasies. When Marcel becomes increasingly jealous and demanding, Séverine decides to leave the brothel, with Madame Anaïs's agreement. Séverine is also concerned about Husson, who has discovered her secret life at the brothel. After one of Marcel's associates follows Séverine to her home, Marcel visits her and threatens to reveal her secret to her husband. Séverine pleads with him to leave, which he does, referring to her husband as "the obstacle".

Marcel waits downstairs for Pierre to return home and shoots him three times. Marcel then flees but is shot dead by police. Séverine's husband survives but is left in a coma. The police are unable to find a motive for the attempted murder. Sometime later Séverine is at home taking care of Pierre, who is now paralysed, blind and in a wheelchair. Husson visits Pierre to tell him the truth about his wife's secret life; she does not try to stop him. After Husson leaves, Séverine returns to see Pierre crying. In an ambiguous ending, Pierre then gets out of the wheelchair, pours himself a drink and discusses holiday plans with Séverine.

Cast[]

• Catherine Deneuve as Séverine Serizy, alias Belle de Jour
• Jean Sorel as Pierre Serizy
• Michel Piccoli as Henri Husson
• Geneviève Page as Madame Anaïs
• Pierre Clémenti as Marcel
• Françoise Fabian as Charlotte
• Macha Méril as Renée
• as Mathilde
• Marguerite Muni as Pallas
• Francis Blanche as Monsieur Adolphe
• François Maistre as The professor
• Georges Marchal as Duke
• Francisco Rabal as Hyppolite

Production[]

Costume design

Much of Deneuve's wardrobe was designed by Yves St. Laurent.

Filming locations

• 1 Square Albin-Cachot, Paris 13, Paris, France
• 79 Champs-Élysées, Paris 8, Paris, France
• Chalet de la Grande Cascade, Bois de Boulogne, Paris 16, Paris, France
• Champs Elysées, Paris 8, Paris, France
• Rue de Messine, Paris 8, Paris, France (Serizy's home)^[5]

Release[]

Critical response[]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Belle de Jour holds an approval rating of 95%, based on 57 reviews, and an average rating of 8.6/10.^[6] Roger Ebert of RogerEbert.com gave a film 4 stars out of 4 and included it into his Great Movies list.^[7]

Awards and nominations[]

Home media[]

American director Martin Scorsese promoted a 1995 limited re-release in America^[8] and a 2002 release on DVD.

Legacy[]

In 2006, the Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira released Belle Toujours, imagining a future encounter between the characters of Séverine and Henri Husson from the original film.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, Belle de Jour was ranked No. 56 in Empire magazine's list, The 100 Best Films of World Cinema.^[9]

See also[]

• Sadism and masochism in fiction
• Surrealism

References[]

External links[]

• Belle de Jour at IMDb
• Belle de jour: Tough Love an essay by Melissa Anderson at the Criterion Collection