Belle de Jour (1967) Belle de jour (original title)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Joseph Kessel (novel)
Luis Buñuel (adaptation) ...
(more)

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:

Prostitute | Brothel | Surgeon | Marriage | Adultery

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Séverine Serizy / 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
Francisco Rabal	...	Hyppolite
Georges Marchal	...	Duke
Francis Blanche	...	Monsieur Adolphe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adélaïde Blasquez	...	Maid (uncredited)
Luis Buñuel	...	Man in Gardencafe - Left from the Duke (uncredited)
Dominique Dandrieux	...	Severine as a child (uncredited)
D. De Roseville	...	Coachman (uncredited)
Marc Eyraud	...	Barman (uncredited)
Bernard Fresson	...	Le grele (uncredited)
Pierre Marcay	...	Intern (uncredited)
Brigitte Parmentier	...	Severine enfant (uncredited)

Directed by
Luis Buñuel		(as Luis Bunuel)

Writing credits
Joseph Kessel		(novel) (as Joseph Kessel de l'Académie Française)
Luis Buñuel		(adaptation and dialogue) (as Luis Bunuel) and
Jean-Claude Carrière		(adaptation and dialogue)

Produced by
Raymond Hakim	....	producer (as Robert et Raymond Hakim)
Robert Hakim	....	producer (as Robert et Raymond Hakim)

Cinematography by
Sacha Vierny		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Louisette Hautecoeur

Production Design by
Robert Clavel

Set Decoration by
Robert Clavel

Costume Design by
Hélène Nourry

Makeup Department
Janine Jarreau	....	makeup artist
Simone Knapp	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Henri Baum	....	production manager
Marc Goldstaub	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Fraenkel	....	assistant director
Pierre Lary	....	assistant director

Art Department
Marc Desages	....	assistant decorator (as Marc Robert Desages)
Pierre Roudeix	....	property master
René Ferracci	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Pierre Davoust	....	sound assistant
René Longuet	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Brun	....	camera operator
Lionel Legros	....	second assistant camera
Pierre Li	....	assistant camera
Raymond Voinquel	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Walter Spohr	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Jacqueline Delhomme	....	secretary
Robert Demollière	....	administrator
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Robert et Raymond Hakim (presents)
• Paris Film Productions (co-production) (as Paris Film Production)
• Five Film (co-production) (as Five Film Rome)

Distributors

• Valoria Films (1967) (France) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Allied Artists Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Alta Films (1967) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Inter-Verleih Film-Gesellschaft (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Miramax Zoë (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (laserdisc)
• Lumière Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MFA Filmdistribution (1999) (Germany) (re-release)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Panorama Distributions (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Other Companies

• Académie Française  member of: Joseph Kessel
• Yves Saint Laurent  costumes: for Catherine Deneuve
• Éditions Gallimard  book publisher
• Poste Parisien  sound recording
• Franstudio  studio (as Studios Franstudio, Saint Maurice)

Also Known As:

"Belle de jour" - France (original title)
"Beauty of the Day" - International (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | Spanish | Mongolian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-18 (1968) | France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 (video rating) | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:M18 | Portugal:17 (original rating) | Japan:PG12 (2011) | 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:

Robert et Raymond Hakim

Trivia:

According to Luis Buñuel scholar Julie Jones, Buñuel once said that he himself didn't know what the end exactly means.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Séverine Serizy:Pierre, please, don't let the cats out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Coming Apart (1969)

Great exercise in surrealism

"Belle de Jour" is generally considered to be director Luis Bunuel's masterpiece; a surprisingly revealing and seemingly personal venture into the world of eroticism and its deviances. It's a truly surrealistic exercise in ambiguity, fantasy, and reality. The line that separates them is blurred so much that the famously mysterious ending has had critics arguing for decades over its meaning.

The fantasy sequences are usually signalled by the sound of carriage bells, but by the end of the film the viewer is no longer able to differentiate between what is another one of Severine's fantasies and what is reality. Even Bunuel admitted to not knowing himself. He said that "by the end, the real and imaginary fuse; for me they form the same thing." The gorgeous Catherine Deneuve, resplendent in her icy prime, portrays Severine Sevigny, the middle-class wife of Pierre, a doctor. She is frigid, virginal, yet seemingly happy enough in her bourgeoisie life and its trappings. However, upon hearing about a local clandestine brothel from a friend, she pays a visit to the madame, and becomes a prostitute, going by the name of "Belle de Jour", as she can only work in the afternoons. She apparently fully realizes and enjoys her sexuality, despite her guilty conscience, exclaiming that she "can't help it". She certainly doesn't need the money. She's bored with her life and her marriage, needing a "firm hand" to lead her; a need which the madame, Anais, who is obviously attracted to her, almost immediately recognizes. Her sweet and conventional husband is unaware, treating her much like a child, and the audience cannot help but believe that even if he knew of her true nature, he would not understand or empathize. She keeps her two worlds neatly separate until a patron of hers (whom she herself enjoys) becomes obsessed with her, and all is threatened.

That Alfred Hithcock in particular admired this film comes as no surprise to me; Deneuve would have been the perfect Hitchcock heroine: an icy blonde who becomes "a whore in the bedroom", as Hitchock was fond of saying he preferred in his leading ladies. But this remark is not meant to simplify the story, its telling, or Deneuve's remarkable performance, which is what truly draws the viewer into the film.

"Belle de Jour" was Bunuel's first foray into the use of color, and he employed it to great effect. From the fall colors displayed in the landscape scenes, to the subtle shades in Deneuve's clothing, the contrasts are set. While the world around her explodes in glorious hues, Deneuve's character is defined by her couture, if staid, wardrobe of tan, black, and white.

"Belle de Jour" was unreleased for many years due to copyright problems, but finally re-released in 1995 through the efforts of director Martin Scorcese, and released on DVD in 2003. I've watched it twice in the past week and am still at a loss to describe it very well; suffice to say that I am in awe. It's an amazingly erotic film without any explicitness, and one that I expect hasn't lost any of its effect over the years. As the subject matter is handled very tactfully and without any actual sex scenes; a great deal is left to the viewer's imagination - which only serves the heighten the mysteries inherent at every turn in the film. The viewer is however drawn into the sense of feeling to be a voyeur into Severine's secret life; the careful choreography of scenes and camera angles contribute to the uncomfortable sense of intrusion by us, the viewers.

There are many sub-stories and small mysteries in the film; for instance one of the most widely debated upon by critics is the mystery of "what is in the Asian client's little box?" that he presents first to one prostitute, who quickly refuses, then to Severine, who tentatively agrees. All the audience know is that it's something with a insect-like noise, and when the client leaves, Severine is sprawled face-down upon the bed, the sheets thrown about, and obviously pleased with whatever took place in the interim.

"Belle de Jour" was awarded the Golden Lion at the 1967 Venice Film Festival, as well as the award for Best Foreign Film in 1968 from the New York Film Critics Circle.

Interesting side notes: Bunuel himself had a shoe fetish, which helps explain the numerous shots of Deneuve's beautifully clad feet throughout the film, and the fact that every time she goes shopping, she buys shoes. He also appears in the film in a cameo as a cafe patron, and in another scene his hands are shown loading a gun.