But Belle de Jour is Bufiuel. Spanish Director Luis Bufiuel is 68, deaf and an acknowledged alcoholic; he has claimed that this—his 27th picture—will be his last.

There, she takes the name “Belle de Jour” (beauty of the day), a play on a French euphemism for a prostitute, “belle de nuit” (beauty of the night). However, when a young gangster client (Pierre ...