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Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour

Drama · Romance · 1967

Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.

Movie details

Belle de Jour

“Luis Bunuel's Masterpiece of Erotica!”

1967 Drama · Romance 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Belle de Jour?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Secret

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A man and a woman meet to fulfill her sexual fantasy.

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Double Lover

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Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

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Nancy Stokes, a retired schoolteacher, is pretty sure she has never had good sex. Now that her husband has died, she is determined to take a tour of sexual vistas that until now she has only imagined. She even has a plan; it involves an anonymous hotel room, and a sex worker who calls himself Leo Grande.

Pink Narcissus

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The Duke of Burgundy

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Luis Buñuel

Written by

Luis Buñuel · Jean-Claude Carrière

Catherine Deneuve

Catherine Deneuve

Séverine Serizy

Jean Sorel

Jean Sorel

Pierre Serizy

Michel Piccoli

Michel Piccoli

Henri Husson

Geneviève Page

Geneviève Page

Madame Anais

Pierre Clémenti

Pierre Clémenti

Marcel

Françoise Fabian

Françoise Fabian

Charlotte

Macha Méril

Macha Méril

Renée

Court is in session

Put Belle de Jour on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.