Belle de Jour
Directed by Luis Buñuel
Written by Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviéve Page

Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour is a sexy and disturbing psychological case study that investigates the masochistic desires of its main character as she attempts to fulfill her urges and reconcile her past.

The film opens with a red herring of sorts, as we’re introduced to a couple on a romantic carriage ride. The woman, an attractive blonde, shuns the advances of her companion, resulting her forceful removal from the carriage by its drivers. She’s led into the woods blindfolded, and eventually tied to a tree, hands above her head. After ripping down the back of her dress, the man signals the drivers to whip her. She seems to enjoy it. An abrupt cut reintroduces the same couple, now in their bedroom getting ready for bed. It was all a dream…or a fantasy. Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) is a seemingly normal, happily married woman who finds herself continually daydreaming about masochistic, sexual scenarios. She’s always managed to subdue her fantasies until a friend — and admirer — tells her about a local high-class brothel. She decides to investigate and is inexplicably drawn to the place, offering her “services” with one caveat; that she be done by five o’clock. For this, she’s given the nickname “Belle de Jour”, or “daylight beauty” (thanks Wikipedia!) As she grows accustomed to engaging in sexual acts with a multitude of customers (all of which have varying tastes and fetishes), she keeps her newfound profession a secret from her husband.

Eventually Séverine services Marcel, a young gangster who grows obsessed with her. This, along with the discovery by a friend that she’s working at the brothel, prompts her to leave. This sends Marcel into a rage, as he’s willing to do whatever it takes to have her to himself. From here on, you get a sense of Séverine ‘s world slowly starting to crumble. You can’t help but wonder whether or not she’s more concerned about her husband finding out about her taboo day job or the thought of having to stop her escapades and return to her normal life. It almost seems like the whole point of engaging in this activity, aside from indulging her sexual urges, is to be found out. Séverine is desperately trying to sabotage everything around with her passive/aggressive actions. Her motivations are complex and intriguing, and the fact that she only feels sexually aroused when being abused raises questions about her past. We do get occasional glimpses at her childhood as Buñuel utilizes fantasies and daydreams to disrupt the narrative and momentarily puzzle the audience. These surreal flashes are actually quite affective in providing us with insight into Séverine ‘s desires and more importantly, her past. It’s through this that we discover an apparent episode of childhood molestation, which says a lot about her actions.

I wish I could hold Belle de Jour up against the rest of Buñuel’s filmography, but I’m sad to say this is the only film of his I’ve see thus far. Having said that, I am aware of the surreal nature of his work and could definitely see that influence shining through. The thing I like about the way in which he handles the daydream sequences is he depends solely on creating unusual visuals within the frame, in no way depending upon any fancy camera moves or special effects. Watching Catharine Deneuve dressed in a white gown, being pelted in the face with mud was truly a provocative and captivating image. There are a few moments where you might find yourself temporarily disoriented by what’s real and what’s imagined, but Buñuel is generally quick to recalibrate the audiences senses. It’s only in the final scene of the film that he lets Séverine ‘s daydreams take centre stage, leaving the audience with a seemingly ambiguous (although in my opinion, clearly explainable) ending that I actually found to be quite depressing. She spends the entire film living out her fantasies as a result of her past, only to end up regressing even further into her daydreams and further away from reality.

Next to the cinema, blu ray is likely the best possible way to experience a film like Belle de Jour for the first time. The print is void of dirt and scratches and the transfer is pretty much flawless. As I’ve stated previously, these releases do a great job at approximating the look and feel of watching a movie on actual film. The colours are rich and a subtle layer of grain is visible throughout. There’s a pretty good selection of special features, including an audio commentary by Michael Wood, author of the BFI Film Classics book on Belle de Jour. The disc also includes a new video featuring sexual politics activist Susie Bright and film scholar Linda Williams. Finally, there’s a new interview with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière and a segment from Cinema, a French television program featuring interviews with Carrière and Catherine Deneuve. — Jay C.

SCORE: