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Belle de Jour
Belle de jour
1967 100 min France, Italy R 16+
★7.8
Drama, Romance
Director: Luis Buñuel
Trailers
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EN
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Description
Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.
US Gross:
$4.06M
Starring
Catherine Deneuve
Actor
Jean Sorel
Actor
Michel Piccoli
Actor
Awards
Venice Film Festival 1967
— Golden Lion
Venice Film Festival 1967
— Pasinetti Award – Best Film
BAFTA 1969
— Best Actress
Key opinion
Belle de jour is widely regarded as a visually sophisticated and provocative exploration of bourgeois repression and female erotic fantasy. While many viewers celebrate its stylistic elegance and Catherine Deneuve’s iconic performance, others find the film emotionally detached and its ambiguous narrative frustrating.
| Acting | Catherine Deneuve’s icy, doll-like performance effectively captures the heroine's repressed nature and dual life. | |
| Cinematography | The film utilizes striking, opulently styled cinematography to create a dreamlike atmosphere that enhances the surrealist narrative. | |
| Direction | Buñuel’s direction successfully blends reality and fantasy to critique bourgeois morality and subconscious desires. | |
| Ending | The narrative structure and ending are divisive; supporters appreciate the intellectual challenge of its ambiguity, while critics find the lack of resolution or character metamorphosis hollow. | |
| Emotion | Opinions on the emotional depth are polarized: some view the film as a profound psychological study of trauma and desire, while others see it as an empty, detached spectacle. | |
| Pacing | The film’s pacing is a subject of debate; some find it contemplative and perfectly measured, whereas others describe it as sluggish and boring. |