Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Belle de Jour Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 12, 2017

Luis Buñuel's "Belle de jour" (1967) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include brand new trailer for the recent 4K restoration of the film; exclusive new video interview with writer Jean-Claude Carriere; the documentary "The Last Script"; new filmed conversation between Diego Bunuel and Jean-Claude Carriere; and more. In French, English, or German, with optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The girl with the dark dreams

Belle de jour is a deliciously perverse film about a very beautiful woman, Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve, Repulsion), who decides to become a prostitute. She is married to a young doctor, Pierre Serizy (Jean Sorel, Una sull'altra), who dreams of having a child with her. Unfortunately for him, Séverine dreams of other things -- most of them gravitating around sex and pain.

Belle de jour, however, is not a sex film. It is an erotic film that offers a fascinating look at the inner world of a woman whose actions are driven by her sexual fantasies. What happens in the woman’s mind is in fact a lot more explicit and disturbing than what happens in her real life.

Henri (Michel Piccoli, La grande bouffe), and old and rather snobbish family friend, is the man who turns Séverine’s life upside down. He is attracted to her -- Séverine’s elegance and purity inspires him -- but realizes that she belongs to another man and this frustrates him enormously. During a casual lunch, he provokes Séverine and she gathers the courage to visit Madame Anais (Geneviève Page, Mortelle randonnée) who runs a secret brothel. It is Henri’s game -- if you cannot have a woman’s body, have her mind.

At the brothel, Séverine meets a number of different men with fantasies of their own. One of her clients is a respected professor of gynecology (Marcel Charvey, Les caïds) who likes being punished when he “misbehaves”; another is a wealthy businessman (Francis Blanche, La feldmarescialla) who likes his sex on the rougher side; another is a wealthy Duke (Georges Marchal, Apocalisse sul fiume giallo) who asks Séverine to lie naked in a coffin while he pleasures himself next to her. The young woman also meets an eccentric Asian businessman with a mysterious buzzing box, which apparently is of utmost importance to him when he makes love.

The one client that gives Séverine exactly what she dreams of is Marcel (Pierre Clémenti, Porcile), a wild gangster who appears at the brothel together with his friend, Hyppolite (Francisco Rabal, Las melancolicas). He immediately falls for Séverine and demands that she spends as much time with him as possible. Eventually, he even follows her back to her home. Marcel terrifies Séverine, but at the same time turns her on immensely.

In her real life, the one where she pretends to be a loving wife, Séverine is bored. Her instincts tell her that she must be kind to her husband, and she certainly does her best. But the excitement from sleeping with strangers who can treat her as she wants to be treated proves too strong. Ashamed of herself, Séverine finally decides to tell Pierre about her double life -- and ends up unleashing a string of tragic events.

Belle de jour is Luis Buñuel’s masterpiece. It is powerful, unforgettable, disturbing, beautiful and stimulating -- it is everything a great film should be. There are layers of social satire, comedy and stylish erotica in it that are brilliantly intertwined, forcing one into a constant guessing mode.

As it is the case with all of Buñuel’s other films, Belle de jour is most effective where it refuses one the opportunity to see what those in the film can. It is a maddening, frustrating, genius technique that completely absorbs one’s mind.

Buñuel’s effortless blending of fantasy and reality is enhanced by the employment of exquisite colors (Belle de jour was the Spanish director’s first color film since his days in the Mexican film industry). They play with one’s perceptions just like the paintings of his long-time friend and collaborator Salvador Dali do.

Belle de Jour Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.67:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Luis Buñuel's Belle de jour arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration that was introduced in the Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival. The 4K restoration was completed by Hiventy laboratory for StudioCanal with the support of Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC), la Cinémathèque française, the Fonds Culturel Franco-Américain, and the Maison Yves Saint Lurent.

The promotional materials for the 4K restoration were quite promising, but having finally seen it now I have to say that the end result is seriously underwhelming. I wish to make it clear that StudioCanal's technical presentation is also a major factor that contributes to the disappointment. Indeed, while direct comparisons with the old release from StudioCanal quickly reveal far better density, the entire film is graded in a way that actually destabilizes its dynamic range and introduces various very obvious digital anomalies. For example, there is light -- and in some areas actually moderate to strong -- greenish/yellowish digital font that basically affects all primaries. In some of the better balanced daylight footage the shift and damaging effects are not as prominent (see screencapture #3), but during the overwhelming majority of the indoor footage the destabilization is very obvious. As a result, the dynamic range and even delineation suffer. Here are some examples: See screencaptures #14, 18, 21, and 22 where the shift introduces digital flatness, plus some very obvious digital crush -- pay attention to Belle de jour's hat. I also took screencaptures from one specific segment where the dynamic range is so problematic that it literally looks as if a strong digital filter was applied. See screencaptures #25, 25, 27, and 28. A lot of the darker footage also conveys very strong macroblocking. Obviously, it was not introduced during the restoration process but during the encoding; however, it further collapses detail and destabilizes the image balance (see the right end of screencapture #25). All of these anomalies are very unfortunate because it is incredibly easy to tell that the 4K scan that was delivered was great, but the questionable color grading and then the poor encoding basically eliminated just about all of the major benefits from it. Image stability is excellent. There are no distracting debris, damage marks, cuts, stains, or any other standard age-related imperfections. All in all, I think that if you have the old StudioCanal release you should keep it in your collection, and if you want the best presentation of Belle de jour you should consider obtaining the North American release from Criterion. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Belle de Jour Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English and German subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless French track is excellent. The dialog is stable, clean and always easy to follow. While the original sound design does not offer any impressive dynamic movement, there are various sounds and noises that are far more effective on the Blu-ray release than they are on previous DVD releases. (I also like the fact that on the old release and on this release StudioCanal included the original English dub. If you ever have the time, try watching the film with it as it is very entertaining).

Belle de Jour Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - new promotional trailer for the 4K restoration of Belle de jour. In French, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Interview with Jean-Claude Carriere - in this brand new video interview, writer Jean-Claude Carriere recalls how he was contacted by Luis Bunuel while working with Louis Malle on The Thief of Paris and asked if he would be interested in adapting Joseph Kessel's controversial novel, and discusses some of the research he did with the late Paco Rabal (Viridiana, L'Eclisse) in popular brothels in Madrid before beginning work on the script for Belle de jour, the genesis of Séverine's fantasies (all of which were inspired by the fantasies of real women that were questioned during the research process), the Freudian overtones in the film, the overlapping of fantasy and reality, Catherine Deneuve's initial reaction to the dark story of her character, the subversive nature of Luis Bunuel's best films, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for StudioCanal. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• The Last Script - this excellent Spanish documentary examines the life and legacy of Luis Bunuel. Included in it are clips from interviews with writer/producer Rafael Bunuel (son of director Bunuel), actors Silvia Pinal (The Exterminating Angel) and Angela Molina (That Obscure Object of Desire), and writer Jean-Claude Carrière (Belle de jour), amongst others. The documentary was also included on StudioCanal's first release of Belle de jour. In Spanish, with imposed English subtitles. (94 min).

• Masterclass With Diego Bunuel and Jean-Claude Carriere - presented here is a brand new filmed conversation between Diego Bunuel, grandson of Luis Bunuel, and writer Jean-Claude Carriere that covers a wide range of topics, from the legendary director's Spanish background and life outside of his home country, the important role surrealism has in his body of work, the conception of Belle de jour, the dual nature of Séverine's life, the contemporary relevance of his best films, etc. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (58 min).

• A Story of Perversion or Emancipation? - in this archival featurette, French sexologist Dr. Sylvain Mimoun discusses the controversial nature of Belle de jour. The featurette was also included on StudioCanal's first release of the film. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (29 min).

• Audio Commentary From Prof. P. W. Evans - P.W. Evans, Professor of Film at Queen Mary, University of London, who has written extensively on Luis Buñuel and his films, delivers an enormously informative and entertaining commentary, which also appeared on StudioCanal's old release.

• Art Carts - six collectible art cards. (Please see the photos that are included with our review).

Belle de Jour Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some of the early promotional materials for the new 4K restoration of Belle de jour looked promising, but now that I have seen the restoration I have to say that the end result is quite uneven and underwhelming, and coupled with the problematic technical presentation actually disappointing. There are parts of the film where density is clearly improved, but there are also various digital anomalies that are introduced by questionable color grading. (Ironically, even the collectible art cards that are included with the release come with some truly bizarre colors). Frankly, despite some source limitations, I think that StudioCanal's older release of Belle de jour is a better option for folks in Region-B territories, while Criterion's release remains the all-around best presentation of the film. On the other hand, this release has a very good exclusive new video interview with Jean-Claude Carriere plus some additional new content and together add value to it. If you find it on sale, perhaps you can consider a purchase for the new bonus features.