Review of Belle de Jour (1967) by Martin T — 03 Nov 2009

After seeing Roman Polanski's REPULSION and falling in love with it and it's star, I've begun my Catherine Deneuve kick. Many consider Belle De Jour her best film. While Repulsion suits my tastes far more, Belle De Jour was definitely a wonderful film of a different breed.

I can't say I've seen too many French movies from the 60's - but from what I do know, I found the film to be very straightforward. There were abstract dream sequences from time to time which did a very good job rounding out the general feel of the movie, in contrast to the simple pace of the actual events.

Deneuve looks stunning as always and gives her signature "I'm so shy I barely show any facial expressions at all" performance. Only in this film, you get to watch her transition from her normal shy self to a wilder, smilier creature which is unleashed once she secretly begins prostituting during the afternoons behind her well-rounded husband's back! So I guess the message is that some women just need to have a lot of promiscuous sex in order to really be happy???

There is a dirty almost punk-rock looking dude that comes into play about halfway through who undeniably resembles Cillian Murphy, only with a full set of gold teeth. I thought aside from Deneuve, he stood out as a very memorable character. He was problematic, violent, and unpredictable - reminded me of a lot of motherfuckers I have known throughout my life.

Solid movie. Interesting subject matter. Enough twists and unexpected scenarios to keep it entertaining. The dream sequences were the strongest points. Deneuve makes it completely worthwhile in the end. But see REPULSION first.