I’ve seen three Luis Buñuel films now; today’s film, which is about a rich lady who becomes a prostitute, the one with the rich people trapped in a mansion they can’t escape, and the one with the slicing of the eyeball (it is unclear whether or not the eyeball is rich). But considering Buñuel went on to write and direct a film called, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” it’s safe to assume the guy had some thoughts about rich people.
Why was Buñuel so critical of the “bourgeoisie”? Because he was one. Buñuel grew up in a wealthy, landowning family in Spain. He lived with privilege and comfort and attended a private Jesuit school before falling in love with the art of le cinema while attending the University of Madrid.
While attending ‘ol U.M., Buñuel met surrealist painter Salvador Dali who co-wrote two of Buñuel’s early surrealist films, ”Un Chien Andalou” (1929) and “L’Âge d’Or” (1930). But while Dali learned to embrace fame and individualism after their second collaboration, Buñuel went full anti-bourgeoisie.
Buñuel rebelled against his catholic upbringing becoming an atheist and he opposed capitalist and class structures that oppressed the poor and middle class with a razor to the eye-ball. There’s a key word that defines the Buñuel films I’ve seen and that word is “hypocrisy”.
The hypocrisy of the Bourgeoisie is that despite presenting themselves as moral, respectable, and proper, they are often just as (if not more) selfish, repressed, and corrupt as the rest of us when behind closed doors. They live a surface level existence, judging others even when they are breaking just as many taboos as the rest of us.
That’s what Belle de Jour is about.
Séverine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) is the wealthy wife of Dr. Pierre Serizy (Jean Sorel), a loving but emotionally reserved man, especially in the bedroom. Frustrated, Séverine escapes into vivid fantasies about taboo sexual encounters. The film opens with one of these: while riding in a horse-drawn carriage through the woods, the carriage suddenly pulls over, and Séverine imagines herself being tied up, whipped, and dominated by the driver.
Needless to say, Séverine has unfulfilled desires. Even Pierre, unaware of Séverine’s hidden fantasies, says in a conversation early in the film, “Semen retentum venenum est”. No, that’s not a Harry Potter spell, it’s Latin for “Retained semen is poison” meaning that repressing sexual tension hurts the body. Little does Pierre know, he’s leading Séverine closer to fulfilling her ultimate desires.
The couple vacation in the French Alps where they meet up with friends, Henri Husson (Michel Piccoli) and Renée (Macha Méril). Séverine fights off Husson’s advances, despite a morbid curiosity about him and returns home. Back home, Renee tells Séverine about a common friend that has been ostracized from their inner circle for becoming a sex worker at a brothel. The seed has been planted.
Husson follows up with the subject during tennis, telling Séverine about a high-class brothel in the city and where to find it. Séverine continues to turn down his advances… And yet, her curiosity grows.
Séverine visits the brothel and is introduced to Madame Anaïs (Geneviève Page) and her girls. Séverine asks to join the brothel but under the condition she is only available in the afternoons. This earns her the nickname: “Belle de Jour” which translates to, “Beauty of the Day” and she starts right away.
Despite her fantasies, Séverine finds it difficult to adapt to the demands of her seedy clientele. Madame Anaïs lets her observe one of her fellow girls and Séverine builds the confidence to perform the fantasies of several men, including pretending to be a client’s dead daughter lying in a coffin while he masturbates.
The situation gets complicated when a young gangster named Marcel (Pierre Clémenti) becomes obsessed with Belle de Jour and will do anything to make her his exclusive lover. Marcel threatens her and the film escalates to a tragic turn of events when Marcel goes after Pierre. I won’t spoil what happens but it ain’t pretty.
So see? Rich people are just as miserable as the rest of us and nobody knows this better than Luis Buñuel. Because “enough” is never enough. It doesn’t matter how many people you hurt, we never stop being greedy meat sacks. The bourgeoisie just have more resources. More ways to express their greed. But it all comes crashing down in the end. Beauty for a day… sad forever.