Belle de jour (1967)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Luis Buñuel (writer)
Jean-Claude Carrière (writer)

Release Date:

10 April 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Luis Bunuel's Masterpiece of Erotica!

Plot:

A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.

Plot Keywords:

Stalker | Shot To Death | Dominatrix | Clandestine | Masochist

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Séverine Serizy aka Belle de Jour
Jean Sorel	...	Pierre Serizy
Michel Piccoli	...	Henri Husson
Geneviève Page	...	Madame Anais
Pierre Clémenti	...	Marcel
Françoise Fabian	...	Charlotte
Macha Méril	...	Renee
Muni	...	Pallas
Maria Latour	...	Mathilde
Claude Cerval
Michel Charrel	...	Footman
Iska Khan	...	Asian client
Bernard Musson	...	Majordomo
Marcel Charvey	...	Prof. Henri
François Maistre	...	L'ensignant

Also Known As:

Beauty of the Day (International: English title) (literal title)
Bella di giorno (Italy)
Belle de jour (USA)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

Spanish | French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-18 (1968) | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Ireland:18

Filming Locations:

1 Square Albin-Cachot, Paris 13, Paris, France

Company:

Paris Film

Trivia:

In most subtitled versions of the film, an italicized font is used to help the audience spot Séverine's fantasies from reality.

Goofs:

Continuity: Marcel breaks the glass and oval frame to vent his anger. The same frame and picture are unbroken later.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Settling the Score (2006) (V)

Different every time

My other favorite Bunuel films, _The Exterminating Angel_ and _The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie_, are in some ways social satires surrealistically told. _Belle de Jour_, however, is much more of a purely surreal work, which is appropriate since it is about two of the most surreal of subjects: power, and sex. Don't watch it expecting psychedelic camera tricks and Freudian dream sequences - Bunuel is much too controlled for trickery, and much too tricky to allow you to calmly map out what is real and what is not. And don't expect to know exactly what has happened at the end or even to remember the film clearly later. Each time I see it again I discovered that that the film has somehow reassembled itself in my memory, so each viewing is fresh and surprising. Even if you don't give a tinker's melted watch about surrealism, and don't care to puzzle out reality from fantasy, there's still much to like here: frequent droll humor, a little bit of titillation, and a good performance from an incredibly beautiful young Catherine Deneuve. Watch it with someone you love.