Belle de Jour

Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Pierre Clementi, Francoise Fabian
Directed by: Luis Bunuel
Rating: Approved
Genre: Drama, Romance
1967

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A timid wife (Catherine Denueve) begins working as a high-end prostitute during her afternoons.

Review:

Tim: This is the second Luis Bunuel film I've seen, after The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Both films were surreal, unexpected, and thought-provoking. Like that one, Belle de Jour has some obvious strengths and a lot of ambiguity. I thought this was a good film, but I don't think I ever loved it.

Bunuel really plays with the idea between fantasy and reality in this film. That's the central question of this film- how many of the scenes actually take place, verses take place in Severine's head. The movie is not interested in providing any clear cut answers- it absolutely leaves the final decisions up to each viewer. I read a few different theories about this movie afterwards and I was struck by how different they were. Even the scenes that I thought were obvious fantasies, some theorized that they could have happened. A lot of your enjoyment of the film will derive from your experience of watching the movie and parsing out the mysteries. I thought it was quite interesting how Bunuel crafted a film big on questions and short on answers, but I never really loved the characters, so I less interested in a deep dive into the story. My opinion is that a few more guardrails would have helped. By creating such ambiguity in the film, the impact of the main character and the decisions she makes is lessened.

The movie is a fairly surprisingly deep study of Severine as a character. We see early on that she fantasizes (I think) about sexual humiliation, which is a major departure from the reality of her life, with a picture perfect husband and a comfortable (if dull) bourgeois life. She is withdrawn into herself, frigid, timid, small. And yet, her inner life is anything but. Her subconscious mind is screaming for relief, for drama, for something so unlike her day-to-day existence. This leads her to work in a high-class brothel, but only during the day. As the film progresses, we see the change in Severine. It felt like most of these scenes were reality. Then, the film gets really weird at the end, when we see a series of events that are harder to place- are we watching something real, or imaginary?

The film is helped by an incredible performance by Catherine Deneuve as Severine. It's interesting- I did question why I was so impressed with her. She spends much of the movie restrained, stoic. She's not prone to big emotions and her performance often feels wooden. However, this is all intentional. Deneuve wows because she shows us these little cracks in Severine's outer armor. It might be a slight smile, or a twinkle of an eye, or a rare moment where she shows emotion. It's a spellbinding performance, a textbook case of doing more with less. Deneuve is never flashy in her role, but it's grounded in something real. I thought she was outstanding and the highlight of the film. Jean Sorel is solid as her husband. Michel Piccoli is fantastic in a supporting role that keeps the audience on its toes- he elicits a surprising amount of emotion from the audience. Piccoli takes up space on screen- our eye is drawn to him, and he makes the movie immensely better. Genevieve Page had some nice sequences as well.

Like I said, I enjoyed Belle de Jour. It's a good movie, a fascinating character study, and a real puzzle box of a film. Bunuel makes us question everything we're seeing- is this fiction, or is it real? What you think about the movie could vary greatly depending on which scenes you believe are Severine's fantasies, verses which ones you believe occur in real life. It's interesting to see a film so determinedly focused on confusing us. I liked the movie, but I felt almost no emotion for any of the characters or their plight. Without a clearer sense of what was actually happening, it's a bit hard to get invested in the film. Still, Bunuel might not be for everyone, but I know he (and this film) have many fans the world over. I liked the movie, even if it never blew me away.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Band of Outsiders