Catherine Deneuve’s porcelain perfection hides a cracked interior in one of the actress’s most iconic roles: Séverine, a Paris housewife who begins secretly spending her after­noon hours working in a bordello. This surreal and erotic late-sixties daydream from provocateur for the ages Luis Buñuel is an examination of desire and fetishistic pleasure (its characters’ and its viewers’), as well as a gently absurdist take on contemporary social mores and class divisions. Fantasy and reality commingle in this burst of cinematic transgression, which was one of Buñuel’s biggest hits.

“Belle de Jour dramatizes the collision between depravity and elegance, one of the favorite themes of director Luis Buñuel.” (Rotten Tomatoes)

“It is possibly the best-known erotic film of modern times, perhaps the best.” (Roger Ebert)

“This silly little masterpiece regards Deneuve as the goddess of light she really was — a figment of our collective appetite for the unreal.” (Village Voice)

Thursday, August 30
Doors 6:00 pm | Movie 6:30 pm
Advance tickets $10 HERE | $12 at the door

*Minors permitted in the balcony. (Please note this film is rated 18A.) Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
**Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

BELLE DE JOUR (Luis Buñuel, 1967 / 101 mins / 18A) Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name “Belle de Jour.” But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.