Belle de Jour (film)

For other uses, see Belle de Jour (disambiguation).

Belle de Jour
Theatrical release poster
Directed byLuis Buñuel
Screenplay by
Based onBelle de Jour
by Joseph Kessel
Produced by
Starring
CinematographySacha Vierny
Edited byLouisette Hautecoeur
Production
companies
  • Paris Film Production
  • Five Film
Distributed by
  • Valoria (France)
  • Euro International Films (Italy)
Release dates
  • 24 May 1967 (1967-05-24) (France)
  • 14 September 1967 (1967-09-14) (Italy)
Running time
101 minutes
Countries
Languages
  • French
  • Spanish
Box office2,162,160 admissions (France)[2]

Belle de Jour (pronounced [bɛl də ʒuʁ]) is a 1967 surrealist erotic[3] psychological drama film directed by Luis Buñuel, and starring Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, and Michel Piccoli. Based on the 1928 novel Belle de Jour by Joseph Kessel, the film is about a young woman who spends her midweek afternoons as a high-class prostitute, while her husband is at work.[4]

The title of the film is a play on words on the French term belle de nuit ("beauty of the night", i.e., a prostitute), as Séverine works during the day under the pseudonym "Belle de Jour". Her nickname can also be interpreted as a reference to the French name of the morning glory (Convolvulaceae), meaning "beauty of [the] day", a flower that blooms only during the day.

Belle de Jour is one of Buñuel's most successful and famous films. It was Deneuve's second acclaimed success after The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.[5] It won the Golden Lion and the Pasinetti Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival in 1967.[6]

  1. ^ a b "Belle de Jour (1966) – Luis Buñuel". AllMovie. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Belle de jour (1967)". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  3. ^ "'Belle de Jour': Surreal and sexy provocation from the '60s is back for Kendall Square run". 14 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Belle de Jour". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Catherine Deneuve, ses films cultes". ELLE. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Awards for Belle de Jour". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 29 April 2012.