Belle de jour
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| Belle de jour | |
|---|---|
| Image:Belle de jour poster.jpg Belle de jour movie poster | |
| Directed by | Luis Buñuel |
| Produced by | Henri Baum Raymond Hakim Robert Hakim |
| Written by | Luis Buñuel Jean-Claude Carrière Joseph Kessel |
| Starring | Catherine Deneuve Jean Sorel Michel Piccoli Geneviève Page |
| Release date(s) | Image:Flag of France.svg May 24, 1967 Image:Flag of the United States.svg 10 April, 1968 |
| Running time | 101 min |
| Language | French |
| IMDb profile | |
Belle de jour is a 1967 French film starring Catherine Deneuve. The title means "beauty of the day". The film was directed by the Spanish director Luis Buñuel. It is based on the 1928 novel of the same name by Joseph Kessel. American director Martin Scorsese promoted a 2002 release of the movie on DVD.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Séverine Serizy is a young, beautiful Paris housewife who has masochistic daydream fantasies about elaborate floggings and bondage. She is married to a doctor (Jean Sorel) and loves him, but cannot share physical intimacy with him. A male friend mentions a high-class brothel to Séverine, and soon she secretly tries to work there during the afternoon (using the pseudonym Belle de jour). The brothel is run by Madame Anaïs, played by Geneviève Page. Séverine will only work up until five o'clock each day, returning to her blissfully unaware husband in the evening. As the film progresses Serizy becomes entangled with a young gangster who offers her the thrills and excitement contained in her fantasies. The situation become more complicated when Serizy decides to leave the brothel. Jealous of her lover he tracks her down to her address where he threatens to tell of her hidden identity but Serizy manages to convince him to leave. Pulling out a gun he waits outside for her husband to return home and shoots him three times before escaping and eventually getting caught by the police. Serizy's husband survives the event but is left in a coma. The film ends with Serizy escaping into fantasy once more; this time however there are no sexual undertones. Her husband is healthy again and they kiss before looking out the window on to the opening scene of the film.
[edit] Cast
- Catherine Deneuve as Séverine Serizy aka Belle de Jour
- Jean Sorel as Pierre Serizy
- Michel Piccoli as Henri Husson
- Geneviève Page as Madame Anais
- Pierre Clémenti as Marcel
- Georges Marchal as Duke
- Françoise Fabian as Charlotte
- Macha Méril as Renée
- Muni as Pallas
- Maria Latour as Mathilde
[edit] Awards
The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1967.
[edit] Namesakes
- The song 'My Lover's Box' by rock group Garbage was inspired, in part at least, by the movie. Later, Their music video for 'Tell me where it hurts' was also based on this film.
- The pseudonymous British writer Belle de Jour is presumably named after this film.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Belle de jour at the Internet Movie Database
- Belle de jour review by Roger Ebert
- Review of DVD of Belle De Jour
- Belle de jour review by Edward Guthmann - San Francisco Chronicle
| Preceded by The Battle of Algiers | Golden Lion winner 1967 | Succeeded by Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos |
Films directed by Luis Buñuel |
|---|
Un chien andalou • L'Âge d'Or • Land Without Bread • España 1936 • Gran Casino • El Gran Calavera • Los olvidados • Susana • La hija del engaño • Subida al cielo • Una mujer sin amor • El bruto • El • La ilusión viaja en tranvía • Abismos de pasión • Robinson Crusoe • Ensayo de un crimen • El río y la muerte • Cela s'appelle l'aurore • La mort en ce jardin • Nazarín • La fièvre monte à El Pao • The Young One • Viridiana • The Exterminating Angel • Diary of a Chambermaid • Simon of the Desert • Belle de jour • The Milky Way • Tristana • The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie • The Phantom of Liberty • That Obscure Object of Desire |
de:Belle de jour – Schöne des Tages es:Belle de jour fr:Belle de Jour (film) it:Bella di giorno hu:A nap szépe ja:昼顔 (映画) pt:Belle de jour ru:Дневная красавица (фильм) sv:Belle de jour - dagfjärilen
