Tristana

One of Buñuel's best films which had been inexplicably overshadowed by Belle de Jour, but which in fact is far superior both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of insight. Set in Toledo during the 1930s it scrutinizes on several levels the relationship between Don Lope (Fernando Rey), an old conservative gentleman and Tristana (Catherine Deneuve) who becomes his ward and eventually his mistress. However she starts seeing Horacio (Franco Nero) a young painter but as she becomes seriously ill and her leg is aputated it is vengeance that she seems to be seeking...

Buñuel plays here with several themes which are problematic in the relationship between the sexes: rape, incest, exploitation, and the sexually repressed if not abused female (Deneuve here takes up many characteristics of her role in Polanski's Repulsion) are all tackled by Buñuel with uncompromising cynicism and a paradoxically present humanism. The metamorphosis of Tristana from pure innocence to cold revenge dominates the flow of the filin and it points to Buñuel's remarkable ability to guide his actors and actresses through situations which on film are quite difficult to portray. The depiction of men is particularly unfavourable regarding both characters. The mephistopholean Don Lope is unsympathetically portrayed although his change of roles from lover to husband and father radiate occasionally if not warmth then certainly an ambivalent sense of sadness and pity characterizing every tormented soul which is the product of an oppressive society. It is probably Horacio the person we are inclined to feel mostly uncomfortable with since his love for Tristana proves spurious and subject to materialist compromise. Our sympathies are thus left with Tristana as we observe the way she eliminates her torturer.

The way Buñuel mingles each of the person's flaws gives rise to the ambivalence the viewer is faced with. The film, black comedy as it is, includes delightful moments such as the one with Don Lope refusing the entrance of a priest into his house. Beautifully photographed in colour, it captures accurately the historical context of the story and its complex psychology cannot but provide much food for thought.
 

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94