Directed by Luis Bunuel
Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michael Piccoli, Genevieve Page and Pierre Clementi
The first paragraph of the reviews in this marathon usually consists of me telling a banal story about how I first learned of the film-maker, my pre-watch expectations, and in general what led to me choosing the movie in question. Well, this time, the answer to that is pretty simple. I had never even heard of this movie before, but I was perusing the selections on the Criterion Channel and saw the certifiably gorgeous Catherine Deneuve greeting me with that seductive, innocent smile you see above. I then read the plot description and thought this one would be a winner. In short, I was ready for some sexy time. There used to be something in my previous blog called the Skeevy Paragraph, and while that has been retired (because THIS blog is all about class, or something), my motives on watching this movie were pretty simple.
I wasn't wrong in that assumption. The movie IS sexy, especially by 1967 standards. It features a pretty damn good and somewhat layered performance from Deneuve, who I really liked in Roman Polanski's Repulsion. By the way, if you want to read one of my reviews that I couldn't disagree with more in hindsight, click that hyperlink, because I've since re-watched that film and now think it's one of the best horror movies of all time. I also respect the hell out of Deneuve for her controversial-by-2021-standards stance that men accused of sexual harassment should still be entitled to due process. Good on you, Miss Deneuve. #BASED
In the film, Deneuve - who by this point was a superstar in European cinema - plays Severine Serizy, demure and beautiful housewife married to respected Doctor Pierre (Jean Sorel). The couple are loving and affectionate, but Severine has difficulty performng sexual acts with her husband. This is established with the movie's first scene, which caught me off guard and initially very unsure if this was a flashback or a fantasy. The movie is filled with similar trippy asides, some of them daydreams, some of them showing incidents from Severine's troubled youth. They give depth to her character in ways that no conversation can. Show don't tell, screenwriters of the world!
The plot gets put into motion by side character Henri Husson (Michael Piccoli), sexual libertine who has no qualms talking about his propensity for visiting brothels. The topic of prostitution had come up in previous scenes, with Severine finding out that one of her former friends has turned to the profession and seeming thoroughly repulsed outwardly at the prospect. Early on in the film, we know where this is going, with the prim, proper and repressed Severine gradually making the leap into becoming a prostitute. It is because of Husson that this leap happens, conveniently talking out the address of the Madame that he prefers to visit and giving Severine the place to hand in her application.
Make no mistake, the best stuff in Belle de Jour (which takes its title from the pseudonym that Severine takes as a working girl, an expression that translates as "beauty of the day," since she has to be home by five every day to greet her husband) occurs after our heroine makes her first visit to residence of Madame Anais (Genevieve Page). The scene with her first client is very tense, with Deneuve's acting making her character's apprehension fly off the screen. There is also a very curious episode with a man that Severine meets while sitting in front of a museum who pays her to come home and pretend to be his deceased daughter. It's very David Lynchian, and it's fascinating in the best kind of weird way. All the while, Severine loses her inhibitions, both at her afternoon job and at home with Pierre. These are scenes of genuine power, and you're unable to look at anything else while they are happening.
The script introduces an element of danger roughly halfway through the film in the character of Marcel (Pierre Clementi), small-time thug who immediately takes more than just a passing liking to Belle de Jour. This section of the movie is a little weak. Marcel becomes jealous and possessive of Severine, at one point finding out where she lives and setting up a confrontation with Pierre that goes about as you would expect. It's a familiar Fatal Attraction plot, done twenty years earlier and nowhere near as skillfully.
What is the theme of Belle de Jour? I had a great deal of difficulty trying to gleam meaning out of what I was watching. That isn't a negative, exactly, but this movie is very much a thinker. It takes no sides as to the debate on prostitution, as Madame Anais is portrayed as a likable character, if not slightly heavy-handed. The two other women that Severine works with are also friendly and accepting. On the surface, the story seems to be one of chance and ill-fate, as it is Severine's acquaintance with Husson that leads her to the path of eventual ruin. After sleeping on it, though...I believe those flashbacks to Severine as a child are more important than their brief screen time. Much like Repulsion, the film seems to serve as an exploration of the effects that childhood trauma and sexual abuse can have on someone throughout their life. The deviant sexuality that Severine prefers, in both fantasy and practice, seems to be a byproduct of it.
I was entertained by this film, but I don't know if I would exactly recommend it. It's frustrating, because parts of Belle de Jour are fantastic. There are also parts that don't work at all. First is the obvious logic bomb in the form of Severine going to Madame Anais, a.k.a. the exact person whom the snakey Husson said he visits. So, why exactly is she surprised when Husson shows up? But the movie's biggest weakness is the plot involving Marcel. The character is not particularly well-acted by Pierre Clementi, but it goes deeper than that. I feel like this character was inserted solely to give the movie a violent, melodramatic ending. I know it's difficult to convey in review form, but trust me, it's VERY jarring to see a film about sex based largely on understatement and introspection, and then see a finale featuring stakeouts and gunshots. Despite its relative predictability, Severine being uncovered by Husson would have provided for a perfectly satisfying finale, with the tension coming from whether or not Husson would tell Pierre about his wife's infidelities. But what do I know? I'm just a rhyme-sayer.
Rating time: ** 1/2 out of ****. It's definitely worth watching for the awesome middle act and the tour-de-force performance from Deneuve. There are parts of the film that definitely merit ****. Sadly, it loses a lot of steam in the final 15 minutes.
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