You have to wonder what would compel a director to make a sequel to a film forty years on, particularly given that the original, Belle de Jour, is one of the most iconic films of the 1960s, and its director, Luis Buñuel, of the greatest directors of all-time. And especially when the new director himself is ninety-eight years old, and has been making films since the silent era. But this distance from the original adds a new dimension to the tale, and Oliveira’s own background infuses Belle toujours with a tinge of nostalgia and age-old wisdom.

Michel Piccoli, who starred in the original as Husson, spots the former prostitute Séverine in the crowd of a Dvorak concert. This time she’s a little different (especially so, as Bulle Ogier plays the role, not Catherine Deneuve – literally showing Séverine is not the same woman anymore). He pursues her, wants to meet, but she seems to resist, trying to stay away from her past life that admittedly was forty years ago.

No doubt, fans of the original will be perplexed by this film. For one, the tone is completely different to the impeccably cold styling of Buñuel. It feels a lot warmer, a lot more nostalgic, and the comedy is nowhere near as black. And for many, it’s the ambiguity, the mysteries of the original, that attract them to Belle de Jour. For a while, it seems Bell toujours seeks to destroy the ambiguity, and at times it’s a little too literal, meddling a little too much in the mysteries of Buñuel (especially given Buñuel’s rather ambivalent portrayal of Séverine, and her outcome – he famously quipped when asked if Séverine returns to the brothel, “yes and no. It’s her problem”).

But there are some pleasures to be had. Bell toujours is almost so inconsequential, so slight, that it feels like Oliveira is playing a joke on us all. He delays every possible situation for as long as he can (no doubt annoying many viewers with the pace). Why were the two prostitutes involved in the film; how relevant was the entire performance of Dvorak; did we need to see Séverine and Husson eat their entire meal first? But just as Belle de Jour was one giant tease for the audience (e.g. he never showed any sex or nudity, but the film seems almost entirely about sex and nudity), Oliveira manages to do the same to the audience – except now it’s more drawn out, more influenced by the ages and experiences of the characters, actors and director. And obviously this will be an infuriating film for many (and understandably so) – a seven minute joke drawn out to seventy minutes. No doubt, Buñuel would have approved.—Brannavan Gnanalingam