Belle toujours

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. (jakelijan virallinen teksti)