A second appearance from Luis Buñuel with infinity his most prestigious work. Catherine Deneuve's iconic performance is instilled in cinema's memory; a photographic depiction of womanhood so radiant and deceptive. A illustrious valentine, Belle De Jour's representations of fetishism were deeply controversial upon general release, but in our modern age of internet pornography and overtly erotic music videos, there is very little here that'll still shock. Despite a deflation in hot-collared arousal, this is still one of the most upfront and personal demonstrations of sex, and indeed femininity ever to reach the screen. With Buñuel as the gaze, and Deneuve his willing object, this Hitchcock-blonde dragged into the kinky underbelly of the Parisian upper-class is magnetic. The actress is in almost every frame, and her presence is so quietly dominant that when the camera strays, the absorbing tension of the film slackens. You cannot and do not want to take your eyes off her; not even for a minute.
Film and UFC obsessive with a passion for scribbling words about them. Avid NFL fan and big Chelsea supporter too.
Film Studies degree graduate from the University of Brighton.
