Belle De Jour

Criterion's foray into high-definition transfers has, thus far, set the standard for the medium and Belle Du Jour is no exception to that. The palette is crisp, the details sharp and, while not reaching the height of clarity that 8 1/2 did, is definitely a credit to the medium. The film itself, of course, is a truly engaging journey through one persons pathology and, in true Bunuel fashion, left turns and surreal imagery abounds. Suffice it to say, this is the best version of the one of the best films of all time. How can you go wrong?

You never saw Belle de Jour in such a quality of images and sound. I have the older Miramax dvd and the comparison of the images is stunning: the sharp images and vivid colors are incredible in Criterion. The only thing that prevented me from throwing my old dvd in the thrash-can was that it has a commentary of scholar Julie Jones.

Luis Buñuel, is often referred to as a filmmaker who is a master of surrealism. A filmmaker who is known for his dark humor and one who works best when given that creative freedom.

With a several films in his magnificent oeuvre, Buñuel is known for films such as "Viridiana", "Phantom of Liberty", "That Obscure Object of Desire", "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie", "The Exterminating Angel" to name a few.

But in 1967, Buñuel would direct a French film "Belle de Jour" (which translated to "daylight beauty") starring popular French actress "Catherine Deneuve", who had won the hearts of audiences with the Jacques Demy film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" in 1964 and the Roman Polanski film "Repulsion" in 1965.

For this "Belle de Jour", Buñuel (along with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere) would create a film that was very different from the 1928 novel by Joseph Kessel and for those who have worked with him and know of his work, he typically creates films that are far from the screenplay and often injects surrealism, so in this case... What is real and what is fantasy? That is for the viewer to interpret.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Branded to Kill" is presented in 1:66:1 aspect ratio, color and audio is presented in French monaural with English subtitles. It's important to note that with the 2011 release of "Belle de Jour", for those wanting the best picture and audio quality, you may want to opt for the Blu-ray because it is in HD.

For those who owned the old 2002 DVD release, the Criterion Collection 2011 DVD release is so much better than the original in terms of picture quality and content. While the Blu-ray release will definitely feature sharper and vibrant colors, the DVD still looks good when compared to the old 2002 DVD release. If anything, the picture quality looks fantastic for a film that is 45-years-old. Colors look very good but most importantly, there is no enhancement of DNR, and for the most part, picture quality looks very good. There is one scene that shows its age (as it did in the original 2002 Miramax DVD release) when Séverine is with Marcel and there is major nose. But that scene is fairly short. If anything, this is the best that "Belle de Jour" has looked on DVD.

According to the Criterion Collection, the new high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35 mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Image System's DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

As for the monaural soundtrack, the new release was remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm print. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube's integrated workstation.

Audio-wise, dialogue was clear and I detected no problems or crackle. Doing tests of the old 2002 Miramax DVD release and the 2011 DVD release, there is a slight distinction of clarity in audio but for the most part, the difference is more apparent in the video.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Belle de Jour - The Criterion Collection #593' comes with the following special features:

Audio Commentary - Featuring a wonderful and insightful audio commentary by Princeton professor Michael Wood, author of BFI Films Classics Book "Belle de Jour".
That Obscure Source of Desire - (18:08) A 2011 interview with activist Susie Bright (author of "Big Sex, Little Death") and UC Berkeley professor Linda Williams (author of "Screening Sex") discuss Belle de jour and the representation of feminine sexuality, themes of masochism and more.
Jean-Claude Carriere - (10:22) A 2011 interview with "Belle de jour" screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere on how he and Luis Buñuel came up with the screenplay.
Cinema - (7:16) An excerpt from "Cinema", which aired on Dec. 23, 1966 featuring interviews with Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Claude Carriere.
Trailer - The original theatrical trailer (2:41), the original U.S. trailer (1:47) and the U.S. re-release trailer (1:07).

EXTRAS:

32-Page booklet - Featuring a new essay titled "Tough Love" by Melissa Anderson and "Buñuel on Belle de jour" (an exerpt from "Objects of Desire: Conversations with Luis Buñuel". by Jose de la Colina and Tomas Perez Turrent.

JUDGMENT CALL:

Luis Buñuel's exotic masterpiece receives the Criterion Collection treatment and what a wonderful release it turned out to be!

Before discussing the film, what made "Belle de Jour" a film that attracted my attention was the fact that Luis Buñuel directed it. For anyone who has seen any of his wonderful films and have gravitated towards his work because of its surrealism, for me...I'm literally grinning while watching his films because he does not follow traditional filmmaking, nor does he want to compartmentalized a storyline and make it simple for the viewer. His films are notable because he does what he wants and while many question his choices of "why?", his answer is typically "why not?" and if one had a different viewpoint of his filmmaking, he would answer with a "if you directed the film with what you want to see...then go for it!".

He's a filmmaker and a creative artist, and like an artist such as Salvador Dali, you view his films and enjoy it for what it is. There are too many critics who find Buñuel's work so maddening because it's not clear-cut but why should his work be banal? That is what I love about Buñuel films and make me slightly biased towards a more positive viewpoint because his films are non-traditional and quite enjoyable.

Which leads us to "Belle de Jour". Sure, this is not the clearcut storyline that Joseph Kessel wrote in his 1928 novel about a woman named Séverine Sérizy who was molested at a young age and lives a double life of being a normal housewife and becoming a prostitute for a few hours in order to fulfill her sexual desires.

In the film adaptation, Buñuel does keep the theme, we are aware that Séverine Sérizy was molested and because of that, she has harbored sexual feelings of masochism that she is too afraid to ask her husband to do to her. But while Kessel's book is quite straightforward of one woman pursuing that lifestyle and living a life of unhappily ever after, Buñuel shows us reality and shows us fantasy and at the end, both reality and fantasy come together as one.

One must remember that in 1967, this film was rather shocking to many people. For one, unlike today where one can psychoanalyze a person who has been molested and growing up to have some major issues, back then, it was an issue that was rarely discussed. And also, rarely do you find a film that focuses on a protagonist who has masochistic desires.

The film begins with Séverine Sérizy being led out to a car by her husband Pierre and is tied up, her bra removed and is whipped and is kissed by another man. A fantasy.

But then there are many other fantasies with Séverine going under the table with Monsieur Husson and while the table is shaking, her husband and friend are carrying on with a conversation. To being with a man who is interested in possibly using an insect and using it for some sexual pleasure to another man who has an unusual sexual desire by having Séverine in a coffin and even a scene where she is kissed by her madame.

And each fantasy, we see her sexual desire escalating and also introducing things that may be a bit bizarre but she she enjoys it until things become dangerous. And the way it is presented by Luis Buñuel is not clear-cut like the book but done with a great touch of surrealism with amazing efficacy.

And of course, Catherine Deneuve is absolutely wonderful in her performance. Bringing this calm but also sexually dangerous side to her character which was quite intriguing as she has considered herself as an introverted person, so to see her playing this role, I was quite amazed the first time I watched it and if you enjoyed this film, you definitely want to watch her next collaboration with Luis Buñuel in "Tristana" (and equally entertaining is reading "The Private Diaries of Catherine Deneauve" which she wrote about her daily experience on working on that film).

What I enjoyed about this Criterion Collection is how this film has meant a lot people and also for Luis Buñuel, to see how people have interpreted his film from the insightful audio commentary by Princeton professor Michael Wood and the focus on the feminine sexuality and impact of the film as discussed by activist Susie Bright and UC Berkeley professor Linda Williams. And also, the addition of the 2011 interview with screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and also the classic interviews with him and Catherine Deneuve made this release much more entertaining than the 2002 Miramax DVD release.

If anything, it is quite wonderful to finally see this film receiving the Criterion Collection treatment and while I am reviewing the DVD, if you have a Blu-ray player, I definitely recommend going for the HD version as it is the best version out there of this film with wonderful picture quality. Otherwise if you don't own a Blu-ray player, this 2011 DVD release is still very good, much clearer, sharper than the 2002 DVD release and it looks fantastic for a 45-year-old film.

Overall, "Belle de Jour" is just one of the cinema masterpiece in Luis Buñuel's oeuvre, but it's a magnificent film that showcased feminine sexuality in a way not seen in cinema at that moment of time. For those who love surrealism in cinema, especially coming from Luis Buñuel, they will find "Belle de Jour" to be a wonderful experience.

For the cineaste, this film is recommended!

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