Portuguese filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira pays homage to Luis Bunuel's masterful exercise in surreal eroticism, Belle de Jour, with this latter-day "sequel." Years ago, Henri Husson (Michel Piccoli) lusted after Severine, a beautiful and innocent young housewife who satisfied her less than wholesome erotic desires by working afternoons at an upscale brothel while avoiding intimacy with her husband. While Henri knew Severine's secret, he never told her if he did (or did not) reveal her secret life
to her wheelchair-bound husband, and she's long wondered if he ever betrayed her confidences. One day, while attending a concert, Henri is startled to see Severine (Bulle Ogier, in the role Catherine Deneuve played in Belle de Jour) is also in the audience, and he arranges a candlelight dinner. However, while Henri is as sly and randy as ever, he discovers Severine is a changed woman -- after more than thirty years and the death of her husband, she's a mere shadow of her former self, and is considering joining a convent for retirement. Belle Toujours received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The 98-year-old [director] Oliveira addresses the beauty and cruelty of aging with such subtlety that the movie is worth taking on its own terms, as the hard-earned musings of its creator.
Beautifully, economically, directed, acted and photographed (by Sabine Lancelin), 'Belle Toujours' is essentially an affectionate, witty, often farcical jeu d'esprit, sweetly and knowingly bringing together the old-fashioned and the modern.
Oliveira's slender Belle Toujours has a certain curiosity value for fans of Belle De Jour, even if it never matches the surreal brilliance of the earlier film.
There is something reductive in all these talky explanations, nailing down the mysteries of fantasy and dream life that Buńuel so audaciously left hanging.
The film is a maddening mix of mild fascination and boredom. Bulle Ogier plays Séverine, as Deneuve opted not to reprise her role. Without her, the film lacks the required frisson.
Pointless and just a little bit silly, it lumbers from one unlikely scenario to another while also managing to shoehorn in a couple of blousy strumpets who look like they've wandered in from an adult panto.
A watchable and intriguing drama, with subtle moments of humour, although it's essentially a companion piece to Belle de Jour and doesn't quite stand up on its own.
Toujours suggests either creative immortality of a work of cinema as it flows through the imaginative process from one director to another, or simply sexual obsession perpetually unresolved. Or perhaps even a little of both.
Toujours suggests either creative immortality of a work of cinema as it flows through the imaginative process from one director to another, or simply sexual obsession perpetually unresolved. Or perhaps even a little of both.
clocking in at a short 69 minutes the film opens up saying," a homage to luis bunel" but its more of a sequel of sorts to bunel's "belle du juor" even the lead returns to his role in this but alas catherine denueve is replaced by another very interesting.
September 11, 2011
Gregory Wood
Ah, another great film by Manuel de Oliveira. With the amazing grandpere, Michel Piccoli.I have nothing to say about this film, except EXQUISITELY BEAUTIFUL.
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