Belle de Jour

1967 Director Luis Buñuel

This is satirist and surrealist Luis Buñuel adaptation of the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel. This film dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel. Because of a question of copyright and ownership, Belle de Jour disappeared shortly after its 1967 release, not even resurfacing on videotape. When it was reissued theatrically in 1994, many critics placed this perplexing film on their lists of that year's best films.

Catherine Deneuve stars as a wealthy but bored newlywed. Early in the film she is kidnapped, tied to a tree, and gang-raped. It turns out that this is only a daydream, but her subsequent visits to a neighboring brothel, where she offers her services, certainly seem to be real. This illusion/reality dichotomy extends to the final scenes, in which we are offered two possible endings.

In 1967 this was probably a very avant-garde film exploring areas of sexuality that were taboo. In today's world this film has become very dated. I was disappointed when I revisited it. The acting by the principle actors is very wooden and staged. The daydreams are could have been a great deal more explicit and Belle's character does not develop in a smooth transition. On top of that there is quite a bit of poor editing. As a landmark film it's worth watching but it does require perseverance.