I do not find the subtle surrealism of Buñuel interesting. The issues addressed & actors involved are the saving grace of most of his work, that I've found. Needs more discreet charm.

Once again Bunuel mixes the worlds of fantasy and reality onto celluloid. Protagonist of the film, acted by Deneuve, is a shy and sexually self-restrained young woman with a wide imagination and many secret desires. Sexuality even though a bit more subtle than in films of Pasolini, is emotionally distanced. It is a very subtle, slow film, over-subtle for my taste. With an introduction of Marcel film picks up some pace, and in the end I found it thought provoking, but not exactly a masterpiece.

Strange, sexy and sorta boring - maybe I just wasn't in the mood for an art film of this type, or maybe I'm just not well-versed enough cinematically to enjoy it as much as I should. People I trust to have good taste have warmly recommended this film, so I suspect the latter - but yeah, worth seeing though I didn't really get into it the way I thought I would.

A remarkably beautiful film. Bunuel's familiar obsessions with anticlericism and hypocritical society, and a preoccupation with erotica, are all here. Comments on our sexual fantasies and hang-ups are humorous and perceptive.

A very interesting, if somewhat dry, take on sexual perversity and escapism, that touches on several other interesting themes - misogyny, societal attitudes towards sexuality, perception, et al. It plays out rather conventionally, and lacks any particular stylistic flair, but Severine's mysterious fascination and pursuit of sexual awakening, and the movie's occasional sense of humor give it a boost. I look forward to seeing more by Bunuel.

A beautiful and enigmatic film. Surrealism in a high-class bordello . . . what could more enticing? This is Bunuel at the the height of his powers, when--with a style as deceptively simple as Howard Hawks'--he causes the reveries and jokes of the unconscious mind to materialize within a realistic narrative as naturally and casually as the appearance of the sitcom neighbor next door. Also . . Catharine Deneuve-and this is saying a lot--has never been more beautiful.

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Before Lynch, Buñuel was the undisputed master of creating atmospheric states able to suggest that the action takes place somewhere between reality and a dream. Applying this sort of atmosphere to sexual fantasy works very well here, even if the story is relatively simple.

Probably feels a lot milder now than when first realesed, but some of the power of the themes in "Belle de jour" remains untamed. The dream sequences are intriguing, as is the examination of sexual esapicm, although I often felt that Buñuel could have gone farther in exploring it. Very interesting, but not all that remarkable.

I can't yet say exactly why it seems like such a success to me, but it does. Compared to Bunuel's typical Brechtian fare, it's downright intimate, with Deneuve's quietly shifting performance cutting to the heart of masochism: the desire to become something different. One of the great feminist works.