Belle de jour
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{{for|the writer|Belle de Jour (writer)}}
{{Infobox Film | name = Belle de jour
| image = Belle de jour poster.jpg
| caption = Belle de jour movie poster
| director = [[Luis Buñuel]]
| producer = [[Henri Baum]]<br>[[Raymond Hakim]]<br>[[Robert Hakim]]
| writer = Luis Buñuel<br>[[Jean-Claude Carrière]]<br>[[Joseph Kessel]]
| starring =[[Catherine Deneuve]]<br>[[Jean Sorel]]<br>[[Michel Piccoli]]<br>[[Geneviève Page]]
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing =
| distributor =
| released = {{flagicon|France}} [[May 24]], [[1967]]<br>{{flagicon|USA}} [[10 April]], [[1968]]
| runtime = 101 min
| language = French
| budget =
| imdb_id = 0061395
}}
'''''Belle de jour''''' is a [[1967]] [[France|French]] film starring [[Catherine Deneuve]] as a woman who decides to spend her days as a prostitute while her husband is at work. The title is the French name of the [[daylily]] (literally: "daylight beauty"), a flower that blooms only during the day, although the name almost certainly is also an ironic reference to "belle-de-nuit" (literally, beauty of the night, lady of the night), a French term for prostitute. The film was directed by the [[Spain|Spanish]] director [[Luis Buñuel]], based on the [[1928]] [[Belle de jour (novel)|novel]] of the same name by [[Joseph Kessel]]. American director [[Martin Scorsese]] promoted a [[2002]] release of the movie on DVD.
==Plot==
Séverine Serizy is a young, beautiful [[Paris]] housewife who has [[sadism and masochism|masochistic]] daydream fantasies about elaborate [[flagellation|flogging]]s and [[Bondage (BDSM)|bondage]]. She is married to a doctor ([[Jean Sorel]]) and loves him, but cannot share physical intimacy with him. A male friend mentions a high-class brothel to Séverine, and soon she secretly tries to work there during the afternoon (using the pseudonym ''Belle de jour''). The brothel is run by Madame Anaïs, played by [[Geneviève Page]]. Séverine will only work up until five o'clock each day, returning to her blissfully unaware husband in the evening.
As the film progresses Séverine becomes entangled with a young gangster who offers her the thrills and excitement contained in her fantasies. The situation become more complicated when Séverine decides to leave the brothel. Jealous of her lover he tracks her down to her address where he threatens to tell of her hidden identity but Séverine manages to convince him to leave. Pulling out a gun, he waits outside for her husband to return home and shoots him three times before escaping and eventually getting caught by the police. Séverine's husband survives the event but is left in a coma. The film ends with Séverine escaping into fantasy once more; this time however there are no sexual undertones. Her husband is healthy again and they kiss before looking out the window on to the opening scene of the film.
==Cast==
* [[Catherine Deneuve]] as Séverine Serizy aka Belle de Jour
* [[Jean Sorel]] as Pierre Serizy
* [[Michel Piccoli]] as Henri Husson
* [[Geneviève Page]] as Madame Anais
* [[Pierre Clémenti]] as Marcel
* [[Georges Marchal]] as Duke
* [[Françoise Fabian]] as Charlotte
* [[Macha Méril]] as Renée
* [[Marguerite Muni|Muni]] as Pallas
* [[Maria Latour]] as Mathilde
==Awards==
The film won the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1967.
==Namesakes==
* The song 'My Lover's Box' by rock group [[Garbage (band)|Garbage]] was inspired, in part at least, by the movie. Later, their music video for 'Tell me where it hurts' was also based on this film.
* The pseudonymous British writer [[Belle de Jour (writer)|Belle de Jour]] is presumably named after this film.
== See also ==
* [[Sadism and masochism in fiction]]
==External links==
* {{imdb title|id=0061395|title=Belle de jour}}
* {{rogerebert|id=19990725/REVIEWS08/907250301|title=Belle de jour}}
*[http://www.unlikelystories.org/schneider0307b.shtml Review of DVD of Belle De Jour]
*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/07/21/DD63089.DTL Belle de jour review by Edward Guthmann - San Francisco Chronicle]
{{start box}}
{{s-awards}}
{{succession box
| title=[[Golden Lion|Golden Lion winner]]
| years=1967
| before=''[[The Battle of Algiers (film)|The Battle of Algiers]]''
| after=''[[Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos]]''}}
{{end}}
{{Luis Buñuel Films}}
[[Category:1967 films]]
[[Category:BDSM in films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Luis Buñuel]]
[[Category:French films]]
[[Category:French-language films]]
[[Category:Surrealist films]]
[[Category:Films based on fiction books]]
[[Category:Leone d'Oro winners]]
[[Category:Films about prostitution]]
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