Belle de Jour (1967)

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

Director:

Luis Buñuel (as Luis Bunuel)

Writers:

Joseph Kessel (novel) (as Joseph Kessel de l'Académie Française), Luis Buñuel (adaptation) (as Luis Bunuel)

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Séverine Serizy / Belle de Jour
Jean Sorel	...	Pierre Serizy
Michel Piccoli	...	Henri Husson
Geneviève Page	...	Madame Anais
Pierre Clémenti	...	Marcel (as Pierre Clementi)
Françoise Fabian	...	Charlotte
Macha Méril	...	Renee (as Macha Meril)
Muni	...	Pallas
Maria Latour	...	Mathilde
Claude Cerval	...	Le chauffeur
Michel Charrel	...	Footman
Iska Khan	...	Asian Client
Bernard Musson	...	Majordomo
Marcel Charvey	...	Prof. Henri
François Maistre	...	L'enseignant

Storyline

Severine is a beautiful young woman married to a doctor. She loves her husband dearly, but cannot bring herself to be physically intimate with him. She indulges instead in vivid, kinky, erotic fantasies to entertain her sexual desires. Eventually she becomes a prostitute, working in a brothel in the afternoons while remaining chaste in her marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | prostitute wife | marriage | brothel madam | double life | 

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Taglines:

Luis Bunuel's Masterpiece of Erotica!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

One scene in the film that audiences obsessed over was the one in which an Asian client entered the brothel with a mysterious box containing an unknown object that is never revealed. When he opens the box to show the prostitutes what is inside, Séverine is the only one who agrees to an encounter while the others turn away in horror. Luis Buñuel found that the most common question people asked him about the film later concerned the contents of the box. It was a question he found "senseless...I can't count the number of times people (particularly women) have asked me what was in the box, but since I myself have no idea, I usually reply, 'Whatever you want there to be.'"

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Goofs

When Mr. Adolphe first unzips Belle's dress she has a slip under it, but when she rushes out and then comes back in, Adolphe unzips her dress again and she isn't wearing the slip anymore.

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Quotes

Madame Anais: You're doing fine. You're a big hit already. Mr. Adolphe is a simple man, so don't get upset. Do what he wants. That's all he asks.
Séverine Serizy: No, I want to go.
Madame Anais: What? You about done putting on airs? Where do you think you are? Go on!

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Connections

Featured in TCM Guest Programmer: William Friedkin (2014)

User Reviews

Genuinely haunting Bunuel classic.

'Belle De Jour' is a movie which requires multiple viewing to fully appreciate. We live in an era of explicit sex and violence in movies are commonplace, and where we are very rarely required to think. 'Belle De Jour' is not like this. What you don't see is more important than what you do. It is a movie which needs a little effort on the viewers part. Persevere, you will be rewarded.

The basic plot is easy to understand. Severine (Catherine Deneuve in a superbly understated performance) is a beautiful, sexually repressed young bride. Her husband Pierre (Jean Sorel) adores her, but their marriage remains chaste. Severine suffers from dreams and hallucinations of debasement. She eventually is employed in a brothel during the day under a pseudonym, while continuing to live a bourgeois life with her unsuspecting husband. I won't reveal what happens after that.

That is the bare bones of the story, but it gives you no idea of HOW Bunuel tells it, which is what makes 'Belle De Jour' such a gem. I think this movie is one of the landmarks of 1960s cinema, and has aged wonderfully. In fact it gets better and better as most contemporary movies about sex get poorer and poorer. A movie that will haunt you. Superb!

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

10 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Belle de Jour

Filming Locations:

Valberg, Guillaumes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,462, 25 March 2018

Gross USA:

$4,063,348

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,156,279

Company Credits

Production Co:

Robert et Raymond Hakim, Paris Film Productions, Five Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1