Belle De Jour / (Sub)

An exquisite tale of self-discovery and tragic passion, Luis Bunuel's 1967 BELLE DE JOUR is one of the crowning achievements of the director's brilliant career. Famous for giddily manipulating audiences in order to make his point, Bunuel boldly blurs the line between fantasy and reality once again. It is this gleeful mischievousness that makes BELLE DE JOUR such a classic. Catherine Deneuve's performance reaffirms her status as one of world cinema's most electrifying actresses.Based on Joseph Kessel's 1928 novel, the film follows a recently married French housewife, Severine (Deneuve), as she is overcome by a wash of uncontainable erotic passions. After a brutal gang rape turns out to be mere fantasy, Severine finds herself in a nearby brothel acting out a series of sexual acts. At night, she returns home to her loving husband, Pierre (Jean Sorel), who is unaware of the double life that she is leading--or is she, really?