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Belle de Jour (1967)
Rated: 18
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Theatrical Release: 29-12-2006
Synopsis: An exquisite tale of self-discovery and tragic passion, Luis Bunuel's 1967 BELLE DE JOUR is one of the crowning achievements of the director's brilliant career. Famous for giddily manipulating audiences in order to make his point, Bunuel boldly blurs the line between fantasy and reality... An exquisite tale of self-discovery and tragic passion, Luis Bunuel's 1967 BELLE DE JOUR is one of the crowning achievements of the director's brilliant career. Famous for giddily manipulating audiences in order to make his point, Bunuel boldly blurs the line between fantasy and reality once again. It is this gleeful mischievousness that makes BELLE DE JOUR such a classic. Catherine Deneuve's performance reaffirms her status as one of world cinema's most electrifying actresses. Based on Joseph Kessel's 1928 novel, the film follows a recently married French housewife, Severine (Deneuve), as she is overcome by a wash of uncontainable erotic passions. After a brutal gang rape turns out to be mere fantasy, Severine finds herself in a nearby brothel acting out a series of sexual acts. At night, she returns home to her loving husband, Pierre (Jean Sorel), who is unaware of the double life that she is leading--or is she, really? [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Genevieve Page, Michel Piccoli, Macha Meril
Screenwriter: Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carriere
Producer: Raymond Hakim, Robert Hakim
Composer: Michel Magne
DVD Info
Release:
Oct 1, 2003
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio:
- Mono - French
- Mono - English
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Production Interview - 1. Catherine Deneuve - Star
- Audio Commentary - 1. Julie Jones - Bunuel Scholar
- Trailers
Interactive Features:
- Scene Access
- Interactive Menus
Reviews
Luis Buñuel creates an eminently classy film that is a splendid piece of escapism for the viewer. Central to this is Catherine Deneuve who oozes such sophisticated sexuality that one becomes utterly immersed in her potentially dangerous adventure.
It is possibly the best-known erotic film of modern times, perhaps the best.
Of all the supposedly challenging attractions playing locally in our supposedly more enlightened era, the most compellingly erotic and entertaining spectacle is still provided by Belle de Jour
This silly little masterpiece regards Deneuve as the goddess of light she really was -- a figment of our collective appetite for the unreal.
A surprisingly discreet film considering the erotic nature of the subject matter.
A radical work that both looks back at the director’s own early surrealist cinema and anticipates the work of David Lynch.
The use of dreams fused with reality works because the two things balance one another to create a whole, instead of detracting as a cop-out as most movies with this motif rely on.
Every detail has been so carefully thought out that seeing it again is like seeing it in another key.
But beyond the artistry, this film stands as the most accessible of Buñuel's work.
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This one's for all you Portman pervs out there -- the erstwhile Queen Amidala is set to go fully nude in her upcoming pic...


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