Review of Belle de Jour (1967) by Gino P — 21 Jan 2012
The more I look at this film, the heavier it gets. The first time I saw it, I found it fascinating in a light, airy, dreamy kind of way. The second time, I found it hysterical. The third time I laughed just as hard but began to feel guilty about it.
The fourth time, I began seeing parts of me in Catherine Deneuve's character, Severine. Etcetera. The opinion I have about it that has never altered is that, in a career filled with masterpieces, this is one of the very finest Bunuel films.
Deneuve was a good fit for Bunuel, in spite of, or rather because of the fact that sometimes it feels as though she's not quite in on the joke, that she is a pawn in Bunuel's fantasy. She is simultaneously objectified and dominant, a source of sexual repression and freedom.
The film starts with a kinky, violent sexual fantasy which we immediately frame as masochistic until we discover that it is Severine's fantasy and see that devilish smile on her face as her husband awakens her from the daydream.
It is a totally subversive scene, and it is the one Bunuel begins his story with so as to properly warn us that he is not interested in gender stereotypes or bourgeois delicacy. By the time Severine is laying in a coffin, naked, while a man masturbates underneath her surrounded by candles and mewing cats, Deneuve's femininity has become almost irrelevant.
She has become the lone adventurer in the deepest, darkest corners of desire, and it is electrifying to watch.
This review of Belle de Jour (1967) was written by Gino P on 21 Jan 2012.
Belle de Jour has generally received very positive reviews.
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