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TODAY'S MOVIE

BELLE DE JOUR 1967 Re-released 1987; NYTimes1176BestFilms; Louis Bunuel; Catherine Deneuve; erotic puzzler. Bored, apparently frigid married woman seeks kink by working in brothel (but only days, hence Belle de Jour); fulfills fantasies; is not frigid, just not conventional. This is one of those films where a lot is left to the imagination. Bunuel builds puzzles for our minds to fill in. In a way, I am not qualified to fill in the blanks as a lot of this is heterosexual angst; somewhat boring, actually. There are whips and bells and arm twists and a lot of dressing and role playing and a box that buzzes for god sake; light bondage and some rough stuff. Belle falls in love, maybe, with a thug (the guy in the poster Pierre Clémenti—over 90 credits) who I had quite a thing for, actually. And so on. Her makeup never ever falters even when she comes out of a shower; a point is made of her lipstick application.

It moves along at a fast pace. It is funny at times. This is one of those art pieces that the 'experts' tell us is a masterpiece but is found wanting in the watching. At least to me. I would have liked the thug to get it on with his partner in crime or even Belle's husband. Deneuve is absolutely perfectly doll-like beautiful and wants to be roughed up, dirtied, and run through the wringer. I know some guys like that. There is a lot of cutting in and out with memory and fantasy but there is no cue about what and when. One reviewer that I read has speculated that even the whore house part is a fantasy and that the whole picture is in her mind. There is that thing with the makeup. Well, it is certainly, or was, in Bunuel's mind. I give it a 3 out of Netflix5.