February 3, 1969
N.C. ESSAY
Page 2
*Belle de Jour’
Movie Lacks Real Artistry
A Review
"Belle d e Jour," starring
Catherine Deneuve as the world's
most beautiful woman and playing at
the Center Theater, is initially an
intriguing movie.
At its most literal level,
Catherine plays the role of a woman
who cannot sexually respond to her
young, prosperous husband. Because
she was molested as a child, she is
left guilt-ridden and frigid. Sex
to her is dirty and must be forced
upon her if she is to enjoy it.
The movie opens with a fantasy.
She imagines herself riding in a
coach with her husband, enveloped in
the sumptuous colors of autumn. When
she fails to respond to his tender
advances, she imagines that he ord
ers her taken out, stripped, whipped
and raped. But instead of being
horrified she responds to her
attacker.
Goaded incessantly by fantasy
and desire, she acts upon impulse
and is impelled to seek out a broth
el, where she begins to work each
afternoon from 2-5. She adopts the
pseudonym of Belle de Jour, since
she works only in the afternoon, and
is initiated into the world of sex-
BOOTERy
THRUWAY SHOPPING CENTER
UPPER MALL
Announcing
ALL WINTER SHOES
& HANDBAGS
Also Boots
Vl OFF
30% off
ual perversion.None "of' theacts
have been directed to producp dis
gust: they are more humorous than
shocking, more mysterious than
explicit.
Though the characters in the
brothel are portrayed well, espec
ially the madame, the movie begins
to lack vitality once Belle has be
come immersed into this sordid
world. From this point, the camera
lingers on incidental details: a
chair, the placing of a tray, and
long close-ups of Belle’s face, as
if to say that only mundane details
compose reality.
The viewer expects to witness a
tragic downfall of Belle which she
herself has foretold. The film does
end with a tragic incident, but the
ending itself is not tragic; it is
pure melodrama and slightly ridicu
lous. The viewer is entertained;
the camera work is good, the colors
at times are like an impressionistic
painting; the scenes of Paris are
exciting; and Catherine is always
beautifully attired, when she is
clothed. Leaving the movie, I felt
cheated and unsatisfied by the way
in which the woman's dilemma is
resolved.
Perhaps the problem comes from
Catherine Denueve herself who does
not seem to convey the deep sense of
turmoil within a woman who must lead
Arts
Crafts
NORTH
CAROLINA
SCHOOL
OF
THE
ARTS
The N. C. ESSAY
STAFF
NCSA
Editor Tony Senter
Co-editor Lynn Bernhardt:
Feature Writers David Wood
Mark Walsh
Dance Editor. . . . Sandra Williams
Political Dennis Williamson
Typists Harold Ingram
Carol MoCurdy
Carol Johnson
Pat Yancey
Business Manager. . . . Tess Morton
Advertising Manager . Polly Crocker
Layout Tony Senter
Advisor Anthony Fragola
Finishes
THRUWAY SHOPPING CENTER LOWER MALL
a dual life and is destined for
tragedy. Perhaps the fault lies
with the director, Louis Bunuel, who
wished to make the woman more mys
terious than easily analyzed.
If the movie is interpreted on
its most literal level, and begin to
conjecture that everything that
takes place within the brothel is
pure fantasy (since the movie begins
and ends with the camera focused on
the moving carriage, it could lead
to such an interpretation) then the
film does more than become a study
of the constant interplay between
fantasy and reality; it becomes
inccMnp rehens ible.
A work of art should give in
sights into life and character.
"Belle de Jour" does neither, yet it
seems that "Belle de Jour" was in
tended as a work of art. It por
trays neither fantasy nor reality,
and fails to give the viewer a mean
ingful insight into the interrela
tionship of the two.
But the sheer entertainment
value, however, "Belle de Jour" is a
competent movie.
by Anthony N. Fragola
I lOLP
M:tor. [
I tore h ^
0J6R- j
mp- J ^