Belle de Jour (Blu-ray)

Star Review

Bunuel's kinky classic still seems as fresh and strangely erotic as it must have done in 1967. The glacially beautiful Deneuve is perfectly cast as frigid housewife Severine whose erotic fantasies become (literally) flesh when she becomes the eponymous ultimate high class call girl of the title. From the famous opening, an erotic and deeply controversial fantasy sequence (Denueve enjoying a kind of S&M with mudslinging thrown in for good measure!) to the deceptively simple early sequences, where Bunuel sketches precisely how the 'perfect couple' set-up of Severine and her boring bourgeois life is a sham (stunning cinematography at the ski resort here, and throughout, by Sacha Vierny), this is a film that sets out to shock in the quietly surrealist way that only Bunuel can. Of the various clients that Severine entertains, all with their own hilariously weird sexual peccadilloes, my favourite is the Chinaman with the buzzing 'erotic box'.

Of all Bunuel's late masterpieces, this is the one that most perfectly combines the anarchic surrealism of the early films with the detached savaging of the bourgeoisie that marks the last works. And all masterpieces, it rewards multiple viewings. Catherine Deneuve is astonishing too in arguably her finest performance.

Chris Jones on 3rd August 2004
View all 36 of Chris Jones's reviews

Film Description

A bored doctor's wife discovers a form of liberation from her mundane existence by joining the girls at a discreet brothel, where she acquires the name 'belle de jour' because of her hours. Then an acquaintance of her husband's who frequents the place discovers her secret...

Catherine Deneuve is almost doll-like as the housewife who tiptoes her way through a series of masochistic sexual fantasies which increasingly blur with her daily reality in this marvellous film from Bunuel.

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Blu-ray Extras

• French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
• The Last Script (1hr 34 mins, NEW)
• Commentary from Spanish Cinema expert Professor William Evans
• Story of a Film documentary (29 mins)
• Theatrical trailer
• A Story of Perversion or Emancipation: Interview with a sex therapist (28 mins, NEW) (HD)
• BD Live (DynamicHD)
• Booklet with analysis of the movie by film critic Derek Malcolm.

Film Details

Cast

Catherine Deneuve, Francisco Rabal, Michel Piccoli, Genevieve Page, Jean Sorel, Pierre Clementi, Muni

Technical Details

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