Belle de jour (1967)

Director:

Luis Buñuel

Writers:

Joseph Kessel (novel)
Luis Buñuel (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 April 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Luis Bunuel's Masterpiece of Erotica!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Surgeon | Brothel | Marriage | Shot To Death

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Séverine Serizy / Belle de Jour
Jean Sorel	...	Pierre Serizy
Michel Piccoli	...	Henri Husson
Geneviève Page	...	Madame Anais
Pierre Clémenti	...	Marcel
Françoise Fabian	...	Charlotte
Macha Méril	...	Renee
Muni	...	Pallas
Maria Latour	...	Mathilde
Claude Cerval
Michel Charrel	...	Footman
Iska Khan	...	Asian client
Bernard Musson	...	Majordomo
Marcel Charvey	...	Prof. Henri
François Maistre	...	L'ensignant
Francisco Rabal	...	Hyppolite
Georges Marchal	...	Duke
Francis Blanche	...	Monsieur Adolphe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adélaïde Blasquez	...	Maid (uncredited)
Luis Buñuel	...	Man in Gardencafe - Left from the Duke (uncredited)
Dominique Dandrieux	...	Severine as a child (uncredited)
D. De Roseville	...	Coachman (uncredited)
Marc Eyraud	...	Barman (uncredited)
Bernard Fresson	...	Le grele (uncredited)
Pierre Marcay	...	Intern (uncredited)
Brigitte Parmentier	...	Severine enfant (uncredited)

Directed by
Luis Buñuel		(as Luis Bunuel)

Writing credits
Joseph Kessel		(novel) (as Joseph Kessel de l'Académie Française)
Luis Buñuel		(adaptation and dialogue) (as Luis Bunuel) and
Jean-Claude Carrière		(adaptation and dialogue)

Produced by
Raymond Hakim	....	producer (as Robert et Raymond Hakim)
Robert Hakim	....	producer (as Robert et Raymond Hakim)

Cinematography by
Sacha Vierny		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Louisette Hautecoeur

Production Design by
Robert Clavel

Set Decoration by
Robert Clavel

Costume Design by
Hélène Nourry

Makeup Department
Janine Jarreau	....	makeup artist
Simone Knapp	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Henri Baum	....	production manager
Marc Goldstaub	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Fraenkel	....	assistant director
Pierre Lary	....	assistant director

Art Department
Marc Desages	....	assistant decorator (as Marc Robert Desages)
Pierre Roudeix	....	property master
Ferracci	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Pierre Davoust	....	sound assistant
René Longuet	....	sound engineer

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Brun	....	camera operator
Lionel Legros	....	second assistant camera
Pierre Li	....	assistant camera
Raymond Voinquel	....	still photographer

Editorial Department
Walter Spohr	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Jacqueline Delhomme	....	secretary
Robert Demollière	....	administrator
Suzanne Durrenberger	....	script girl

Production Companies

• Robert et Raymond Hakim (presents)
• Paris Film Productions (co-production) (as Paris Film Production)
• Five Film (co-production) (as Five Film Rome)

Distributors

• Valoria Films (1967) (France) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2003) (France) (DVD)
• Allied Artists Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Alta Films (1967) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Inter-Verleih Film-Gesellschaft (1967) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Miramax Zoë (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Criterion Collection, The (laserdisc)
• Lumière Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• MFA Filmdistribution (1999) (Germany) (re-release)
• Miramax Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Académie Française  member of: Joseph Kessel
• Yves Saint Laurent  costumes: for Catherine Deneuve
• Éditions Gallimard  book publisher
• Poste Parisien  sound recording
• Franstudio  studio (as Studios Franstudio, Saint Maurice)

Also Known As:

Beauty of the Day (International: English title) (literal title)
Bella di giorno (Italy)
Belle de Jour (USA)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

Spanish | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1988) | Finland:K-18 (1968) | France:-12 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Chile:18 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Ireland:18

Filming Locations:

1 Square Albin-Cachot, Paris 13, Paris, France

Company:

Robert et Raymond Hakim

Trivia:

In the rape scene, her dress was fitted with Velcro to give off a tearing sound as it was ripped away.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pierre and Severine kiss goodnight the position of the pillow behind her neck changes.

Quotes:

Madame Anais: I have an idea. Would you like to be called "Belle de Jour"?
Séverine Serizy: Belle de Jour?
Madame Anais: Since you only come in the afternoons.
Séverine Serizy: If you wish.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Uliisses (1982)

Unique, Strange, and Memorable

The premise of BELLE DU JOUR is well known. A young, beautiful, and slightly frigid doctor's wife (Catherine Deneuve) secretly harbors fantasies of being dominated, humiliated, and abused by her husband (Jean Sorel.) When these fantasies can no longer be denied, she becomes a prostitute under the sponsorship of a possibly lesbian madam (Geneviève Page), working during the afternoons while her husband is at his own work. Her sexuality is awakened by the sometimes brutish clients, who soon discover that "she likes it rough," and she is ultimately caught up a relationship with a truly dangerous client (Pierre Clémenti) whose possessiveness threatens to destroy both her and her husband.

Throughout the film Deneuve slips in and out of memory and fantasy, sometimes recalling herself as a possibly molested child, sometimes imagining herself as the victim in a series of sexual assault fantasies. Director Bunuel, whose masterpiece this is, so blurs the line between memory, reality, and fantasy that by the film's conclusion one cannot be sure if some, most, or everything about the film has been Deneuve's fantasy.

Although it includes a number of impressive performances (particularly by Geneviève Page, her girls, and their clients), BELLE is essentially Deneuve's film from start to finish, and she gives an astonishing performance that cannot be easily described. Like the film itself, it is a balancing act between fantasy and a plausible reality that may actually be nothing of the kind. Bunuel presents both her and the film as a whole in an almost clinical manner, and is less interested in gaining our sympathy for the character than in presenting her as an object for intellectual observation.

Ultimately, BELLE DU JOUR seems to be about a lot of things, some of them obvious and some of them extremely subtle. And yet, given the way in which it undercuts its realities by blurring them with fantasy, it is also entirely possible that the film is not actually "about" anything except itself. Individuals who insist on clear-cut meanings and neatly wrapped conclusions will probably loathe it--but those prepared to accept the film on its own terms will find it a fascinating experience. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer