Luis Bunuel, notorious for his use of simple, striking, yet un-cannily affecting surrealism in movies, keeps it down to a lower (yet still imaginative) key for Belle Du Jour. This works though because un-like a film like Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie where surrealism was like another character amidst the other character's dreams and nightmares, this one only keeps in surrealism for the sake of the lead character's inner demons poking up through the every-day malaise. This lead, Severine, is played in one of Catherine Deneuve's key career performances, that finds that two-sided-ness she feels while married to her husband Pierre.

She loves him, but there's something that she's not getting out of the marriage that's leaving her empty, aimless, and her fantasies- however in the realm of (dark) fantasy- go to show she needs to do something during the day. She then finds out about a high-class brothel with only a couple of workers already employed. At first reluctant, she gives in to her temptations, serving the odder types of Paris looking for a good time, with one of them, Marcel (Pierre Clementi) falling head over heels for her.

What seemed most intriguing about the film was how Bunuel dealt with the themes- the two crucial ones being morality and sexuality. His imagery is direct, maybe too direct, but it gets its points across with a realism that is alluring and far & away (almost like a satire of such a life). She can't stop what she's started, and she doesn't really know how to end it unless she gets caught.

Then with the sexuality, it's never over-emphasized (i.e. no nudity, outside of a quick couple of shots of nudity),and no one is shown having sex on screen. What comes out is the emotional tally of Severine, the other girls, and the supporting characters that come in and out of the brothel. It may seem dated at moments, and the observatory notes go to making the film seem a tad longer than it is. But never-the-less, Belle de Jour is a worthwhile, memorable effort of the 1960's cinema.

And, at many times, it's quite funny. More than that, a laugh riot.

This Luis Buñuel film is more "normal" and accessible to the average viewer than some of his strange and surreal films (such as Exterminating Angel and The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie). Although I liked it, I think his movie Tristana (also with Catherine Deneuve) was the best film of his I have seen so far. It gets a score of 7 because it was highly inventive, the acting was very good, and the film had an interesting twist at the end. However, the plot was a bit on the unintentionally silly side and the fantasy segments occasionally were not integrated well into the movie--especially the one involving the strange older man who made her wear a black see-through outfit and lie in a coffin. I still have no idea whether this was a fantasy or reality and it didn't fit into the story very well. I did like the one scene when she was working at the brothel and called the man "sick" because he was into whipping and submission--pretty much the SAME things she'd fantasized about herself! I recommend this movie only for adults. It's not because there is much nudity, but the entire subject matter of the movie is way too mature for kids or teens.

Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) is frigid with her husband Pierre. They sleep in separate beds. She has erotic daydreams. Séverine's friend Renée tells her that their friend Henriette is now working at a brothel. She is haunted by memories of her father. She follows one of the girls to a high class brothel run by Madame Anaïs who calls her "Belle de Jour".

I'm sure it was shocking for its time especially in America. More than any sexual content, it is the fact that a woman has a sexual mind that is fascinating. Catherine Deneuve does the reserved lady and the conflicted sex goddess both. It is about her physical reality and mental fantasies. I didn't see it on its original run. I can certainly see it as influential for those who did.