Belle de Jour

Pros: Fully realized vision; superb, subtle acting by Deneuve; unforgettable scenes

Cons: Might be a little too languidly paced for many audiences

Review: One of the many beauties of "Belle de Jour" is that it doesn't show us too much. The irony of it is that director Luis Bunuel was hardly one to hold anything back in his earlier films. His short 1929 surrealistic masterpiece "Un Chien...

Pros: Erotic and intelligent.

Cons: Controversial

Review: Belle de Jour (1967, R)

As Reviewed by James Brundage

It would be a curious subject for a paper that would tally and analyze the sex of the noun "critic" in each language. As we are supposed to be mostly objective...

Pros: Bunuel and Deneuve in a Kessel story!

Cons: None.

Review: One of the many masterpieces signed Luis Bunuel. This time however, the movie isn't as surreal as his others, but it has that odd feeling to it. Of course, no man wants to admit that a happily married woman would want to prostitute herself, but the way...

Pros: Great performance by Catherine Deneuve and cunning direction by Buñuel

Cons: Viewer must have tolerance for subtitles

The Bottom Line: Highly recommended for the interesting and erotic theme, brilliant performance by Deneuve, and wonderful ambiguities built in by Buñuel

Review: Luis Buñuel’s marvelous film Belle de Jour (1967) is a psychodrama detailing the dual life of a woman of sophistication who is wife of a wealthy surgeon by night but a prostitute by day. Buñuel was a true film master whose penetrating ...

Pros: Catherine Denevue, plot, social statement, issues, filming

Cons: some holes in the plot

The Bottom Line: A top film in the 1960s genre that deals with vital period correct issues of the time.

Review: Belle De Jour is one of a kind. I open this review with that statement because I was blown away by how twisted and abnormal the plot of this film is. I watched this for the first time in 2006 as a 27-year-old male and it was a bit shocking to see such ...

Pros: Great screenplay, direction, and acting, can be interpreted in different ways

Cons: will be too confusing for some

The Bottom Line: .

Review: Perhaps the best thing about Luis Bunuel's 1967 classic Belle de Jour is that we never truly understand what is happening. The film can be interpreted any number of ways, and there is no way to tell which is right or wrong. Certain scenes, like ...

Pros: A classic from Bunuel, good acting from Deneuve

Cons: Seems a little dated

Review: I had seen Belle Du Jour many years ago and remembered the eroticism and the setting of the house, but not much else. When I saw it once again a couple months ago, as part of my effort to immerse myself in French film, I had a renewed appreciation of it....

Pros: Stylish, Mesmerizing, Strong lead performance

Cons: Not easy to follow with subtitles, Enigmatic ending

The Bottom Line: Stylish foreign film with a surprise ending

Review: Artistic Spanish Director Luis Bunuel's 1967 psychodrama Belle de Jour, begins and ends with a quaint carriage ride in the French countryside, as colorful autumnal leaves flurry about. From there, the scene shifts dramatically to a sadomasochisti ...

Pros: interesting premise, great acting.

Cons: Bunuel's worst film, watered down so much that you can barely taste him.

The Bottom Line: A perfect example of what happens when an artist temporarily abandons his medium. Pitiful Bunuel. Watch any of his others, not this one.

Review: The master of surrealism, Don Luis Bunuel, proves here that in a filmography packed with masterpieces, there is bound to be a stain or two. Let me start by saying that Bunuel is my favorite director and his works really do make up the majority of my...