Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour?

The history of cinema knows many examples of films, exploiting the theme of prostitution: a sociological cinematic essay «Vivre sa vie» and an analysis of society by the means of Ludwig Wittgenstein linguistic philosophy «2 ou 3 choses que je sais d'elle» by Jean-Luc Godard; an aesthetic erotique «La Marge» by Walerian Borowczyk. All these film have one thing in common – they show prostitution among the lower class; prostitution among the upper-class representatives remains relatively untouched. Nevertheless, everyone know the gossips and city legends about rich socialites, who goes to the truck stops; who are having fun with their horsemen and so on, and so on.

Séverine Serizy is living an upper-call petit bourgeoisie life. She has everything in her life, except for one thing – the sexual satisfaction. Unable to satisfy her sadomasochistic sexual desires with her husband, Severine takes the most radical step – starts working at the high-end brothel. At the daylight, she is the enigmatic Belle de Jour, but at the nights, she plays role of the good petit bourgeoisie.

Unfortunately, I haven’t read the original novel of Joseph Kessel. Nonetheless, one could fill the similarities between the film and the classical dirty books – «Venus in Furs» by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and «Story of O» by Pauline Réage. From «Venus in Furs» comes the feminized name of Catherine Deneuve’s hero and her sadomasochistic fantasies. «Story of O» brings the fantasy plot twists and the opening scene reminds us of Pauline Réage novel.

Belle de Jour is a child (or at least teen) film in the terms of modern explicit standards. The film has not lost the bit of its sarcastic critique of the bourgeoisie life. Luis Buñuel mocks double standards and hypocrisy of the so-called «goody-good people». A bored housewife could find satisfaction of her twisted sexual desires inly in brothel. Other representatives of the upper classes also has not passed a shoe into their «abnormal» sexual desires.

Luis Buñuel plays a constant intellectual game with the spectator, by mixing reality and fantasy. The game becomes more and more sophisticated, along with Séverine journey into the Wonderland. There is no «real» sexual scene, except for the sadomasochistic dreams of Séverine, it is up to spectator to decide the extent of Séverine’s sexual madness.

Belle de Jour is a brilliant film, which has not lost its magic and originality. Remember one thing - «All Power to the Imagination!»

9/10