Severine Serizy (Catherine Deneuve) lives a posh existence. Her husband, a wealthy, busy doctor, is willing to buy his wife anything she desires. He even likes spending time with her on occasion, but he treats her like a child. It is obvious Severine finds her spouse boring in ways both sexual and emotional. As an outlet for her boredom, Serizy imagines elaborate fantasies involving whippings, rapes, and being splattered with mud. Why? Because Severine doesn't have the nerve to do something about her growing ennui. Life goes on as it always has until our heroine cannot stand it anymore. She finally goes into town and signs on as help at a local brothel, agreeing to turn up a few afternoons a week for several hours of degradation and debasement. It takes forever for Severine to fully engage her clients because she continually hesitates to follow through on her fantasies. After meeting with her first client, which turns out to be a total disaster, she stays away from the brothel for a few days. The fantasies and boredom of married life drive her back, however, and she soon racks up a list of clients who favor this emotionally frigid yet beautiful woman.

Problems emerge when Severine enchants a violent thug named Marcel. Here's a customer Serizy can appreciate, a brutish lout who will fulfill her violent desires. Unfortunately, Marcel also has his own desires, namely obtaining Severine on a permanent basis. This won't work at all since Serizy never wishes to abandon her easy life with her wealthy husband. The criminal is not to be deterred as he stalks Severine and eventually discovers where she lives. A violent act committed against her husband, an act that leaves the man permanently scarred, leads to a sort of rapprochement at the end of the film between man and wife. At least I think it does. You're never exactly sure what is going on here because the director's use of surrealism blends reality with Severine's outrageous fantasies. The movie's moving along at a nice clip, you're following the plot, and suddenly there is a scene with Severine doing something naughty under a table. Huh? The mix of wild nonsense with conventional scenes isn't as bad as it sounds, though. In fact, it's often funny.

"Belle de Jour" is the sort of film that necessitates multiple viewings. There is just too much going on here to absorb in a single sitting. I am not sure whether Bunuel was a communist or not, but I suspect the film is an artfully constructed attack on the European bourgeoisie. The director uses Severine as a symbol of upper class decadence, as a symbol of everything that is wrong with the wealthy. Here's a woman who seemingly has it all and yet she cannot find satisfaction in her life. Heck, she's only been married to her husband for a year and already she's looking for new thrills, new acquisitions. On the other hand, Marcel is your typical proletariat, a common man who is secure in his identity and in his desires. He should have spent his time attempting to destroy the bourgeois Severine instead of bedding her. As it is, his attempt to possess her leads to his destruction. Whatever this movie ultimately means-and there are plenty of interpretations out there awaiting your attention-Catherine Deneuve is amazing to watch in the role of Severine. She's a beautiful woman, and it's quite something to watch a woman who looks this good engage in these sorts of activities. The mud scene alone is worth the price of the film.

The DVD is a mixed bag. The picture quality is awful considering how prized this film is to millions of cinema fans. I've seen the arguments about retaining the "purity" of Bunuel's best-known film, but the grain, streaks, and general haphazardness of the presentation made me wonder why a Criterion treatment for "Belle de Jour" isn't in the works. What would the film really lose if the techies made a once over on the negative? At least the transfer is in widescreen, with a commentary by a Bunuel student and some trailers thrown in for good measure. When it comes right down to it, I would watch "Belle de Jour" again. It's a movie interesting enough to merit subsequent viewings if for no other reason than to try and get to the bottom of just what Bunuel was trying to say.