Belle toujours (2006)

38 years after their last encounter, Henri Husson thinks he sees Séverine in a concert. He follows her and sadistically takes out a slow and painful revenge.

Director:

Manoel de Oliveira

Writer:

Manoel de Oliveira

Stars:

Michel Piccoli, Bulle Ogier, Ricardo Trêpa

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Michel Piccoli	...	Henri Husson
Bulle Ogier	...	Séverine Serizy
Ricardo Trêpa	...	Barman
Leonor Baldaque	...	Young Prostitute
Júlia Buisel	...	Old Prostitute
Lawrence Foster	...	Self - Direction musicale

Storyline

Belle toujours occurred to me unexpectedly and, as I had the will to pay my tribute to Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière, I was happy to have found a way to do so, perhaps the best, and I started working. What is it about? Taking two of the strange characters from the film Belle de Jour, and make them relive, thirty eight years later, in the strangeness of a secret which was only in the possession of the masculine character and a knowledge that had become crucial to the female character. Thus, passed this time, they meet again. She tries to avoid him by all means. But he stalks her and eventually manages to gain her attention with the intention of revealing the secret that he alone can unfold. They set a meeting, a dinner, where she expects that all will be revealed. During dinner, she, now a widow, awaits the expected revelation: what he had told her husband while he was mute and paralytic because of a gunshot wound fired by a lover of hers. The situation is tense and she ends up ...

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Plot Keywords:

dinner | secret | revenge | concert | sequel | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Manoel de Oliveira made this film at the age of 97.

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Connections

Follows Belle de Jour (1967)

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Soundtracks

Symphonie n° 8 en sol majeur - Op. 88 (mouvements 3 et 4)
(credited incorrectly as mouvements 2 et 3)
Composed by Antonín Dvorák
Performed by L'Orchestre de la Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian
Conducted by Lawrence Foster

User Reviews

A modest, graceful, and sly little gem

First: slow down. Second: turn of the phone. Third: relax. Now you're ready for a treat. Manoel de Oliveira's Belle Toujours (2006) is a sequel in homage to Belle de Jour (1967), the classic film from Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière. Certainly Belle Toujours is diverting and can stand alone; but, when it follows on the heels of Belle de Jour, so that the two films are taken together, then it finds its full stride. Something magical happens. Michel Piccoli returns as "Mr. Husson" (un drôle de type), as Bulle Ogier replaces - who else could? - the otherwise irreplaceable Catherine Deneuve as "Séverine" (la putain-penitent, forty years on). It works very well. Alone, Oliveira's little gem comes in around 60 minutes. If watched immediately after Buñuel's film, the two taken together require 2 hours and 40 minutes. Enjoy. 8/10 plays it safe.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official stite [Japan]

Country:

Portugal France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 April 2007 (France)

Also Known As:

Bella sempre

Filming Locations:

France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,363, 10 June 2007

Gross USA:

$10,921

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$381,450

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filbox Produções, Les Films d'Ici, Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia (ICAM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1