Review of Belle de Jour

Adapted from the book by Joseph Kessel with a shocking opening during it's time but very tame now, with a young married couple of Severine (Catherine Deneuvre) and her husband Pierre (Jean Soreal) riding on a horse carriage on the countryside toward their home. As soon as she refuses his advances, he takes an offense to that and forces her out of the carriage ordering the 2 men riding up front to drag her into the woods before she is strung up to a tree whipped and assaulted by the riders. And then at this point, suddenly we are in a new environment Severine describes her husband laying on another bed that she's has had that dream again. And is oblivious to understand why. While her husband is a successful physician he takes her to a resort for the purpose of meeting some old acquaintances and it is during then she is told of a escort service nearby and for some odd reason she is somehow drawn to it. And she becomes an escort herself giving an alter ego name for herself "Belle de Jour" hence the title. And we find out later that as a result of her past when she may have been groomed as a young child may have lead her to be attracted to people who are aggressive towards her or toward men who force themselves on to her leading her to lead a double life.

(Spoilers)

Although, their are many different interpretations regarding the ending, the one that looked like to me is that her husband was 'actually' assaulted, to the extent of ending up in a wheelchair like a vegetable, but at this point as soon as she begins to sit down gazing, is when she begins to hallucinate, beginning with her husband Pierre suddenly standing up from his wheelchair before ripping the cast and neckbrace off gazes out of the balcony seeing the empty horse carriage.