MovieChat Forums > Belle de jour (1968) Discussion > The layers and complexity of this film a...

The layers and complexity of this film are its strong point. SPOILERS!


SPOILERS AHEAD! One of the many brilliant things about this film is amount of layers that it has. One can take it as a simple hero's journey story structure of a woman finding her self in her sexuality and one can take her finding herself as villainous act as her actions lead her husband to being crippled. There are so many other things in the film to savor, but just that dichotomy alone has enough to think about to make the film satisfying. What brilliance this film has!

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There´s nothing brilliant about it, except for the cinematography perhaps, but that too is overshadowed by Bunuel´s boring, in-your-face obviousness and juvenile shock tactics. It´s as if the director´s standing next to his work at all times, insistingly repeating: "look ad ´dis - innit SHOCKING! Innit WEIRD! Innit QUIRKY"! While all it really ends up being is silly and annoying. Subtetly´s a thing the meaning of which he apparently never learned to know. Even his more watchable efforts such as Viridiana (well, that´s actually a great film) pound the points home in a rather forcible fashion.


"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Agreed, it is too straightforward and what I personally find insulting is the suggestion that her behavior is a result of some sort of sexual abuse as a child. Apparently a woman must have been a victim if she is interested in her own sexuality.

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Being interested in ones sexuality and cheating on your husband with ugly and abusive men by working in a brothel are 2 different things.

The sexual abuse as a child is more relevant to her situation than just someone interested in their sexuality.
My Movies:http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=27163862

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There´s nothing brilliant about it, except for the cinematography perhaps, but that too is overshadowed by Bunuel´s boring, in-your-face obviousness and juvenile shock tactics. It´s as if the director´s standing next to his work at all times, insistingly repeating: "look ad ´dis - innit SHOCKING! Innit WEIRD! Innit QUIRKY"! While all it really ends up being is silly and annoying. Subtetly´s a thing the meaning of which he apparently never learned to know. Even his more watchable efforts such as Viridiana (well, that´s actually a great film) pound the points home in a rather forcible fashion.


I'm not sure how I feel about all this. It's easy to see that when I first watched this film but I noticed something else was going on besides that (and yes, it is driven by the cinematography).

It's not on of my personal favs of his however.

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I suppose I may have somewhat overreacted, right after watching the thing as I posted this, but the on-the-nose kinda provocations Bunuel seemingly liked so much (similar tendencies also hurt L´Age d´Or quite a bit, as relevant & important as the film as a statement otherwise may be) are a major turn-off for me. I may have indeed missed one or two things about what the movie had on its mind, but stuff like throwing crap at Deneuve or some folks screwing under the table in a restaurant are indeed a major distraction. It´s just so bloody obvious and heavy handed.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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[deleted]

Many of these things are open to interpretation. What is being thrown at the Catherine Deneuve character and what the people are doing under the table are not as clearly spelled out as the above poster states. Someone else may very well think it is something else that is going on under the table or that something else is being thrown at the Catherine Deneuve character.
But even beyond that if one does interpret those elements in the same way there is still a lot more that is open to interpretation and ultimately has depth.

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What difference does it make what they throw at her? The intent is still to ´dirty her´, literally and metaphorically. And it was rather obvious what was going on under that table.

But anyways, I´m not interested in starting any silly arguments. I don´t even think it´s that bad a film necessarily - I just don´t dig its tone and aesthetic choices.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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Again there are so many interpretations and that is a huge part of what is gorgeous about the film. What one person is certain of another may feel equally certain that it is something else. I have no interest in arguments either. My original post was simply a positive feeling about the film. I definitely love the aesthetic choices of this film.

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She was already dirty. Why would they need to dirty her? This is clearly her fantasy and she has felt guilty since she was a child, and she knew she was dirty all the way. Sorry, but you got the wrong idea. It's not all that obvious as it seems.

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For a film to be heavy-handed, it has to shove down the content, so that what you know is being thrust to you repeatedly. Belle de Jour however does none of this. Although, individual scenes may seem clear in the first viewing, a retrospective look would reveal that they may not be what one initially thought they were. The deeper one looks, the more mysterious this film turns out to be. His criticism of the bourgeois, church, absence of sexual freedom for women etc., are not the main ideas of this film although they've been touched upon as in like most of his works. So, if you think these thoughts have been shoved to the audience, think again. This can be seen as a surreal experience, even a mystery towards the end, but it works as a psychological drama and the film primarily explores the mind of Severine. The character arc is brilliant! Bunuel gives so little about her childhood, that it becomes open to interpretation. He also gives so little about her motives for her actions, but just enough to form ideas. I personally don't believe she was affected by trauma any more than her guilt over her fantasies/dark secrets. This is just one example of why it is not heavy-handed at all. Of course, the film makes it clear about what scenes were real and what were fantasies unlike some strongly surreal films, however that is not the point of this film.

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I love how you used Crispin Glover's quote I think he rocks too.

You cheesy lot of second hand electric donkey-bottom biters!

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