Tristana is a Buñuel's film based on Benito Perez Galdos' realist novel of the same title, what Spaniards call a "novela costumbrista", that is, an epoch novel that focus on real local customs, social types and atmosphere.
It tells the story of Tristana, a 19y.o. orphan girl, who moves to the house of her legal guardian, Don Lope, a socialist bourgeois womanizer, who becomes not only her father, but also her lover-husband.
The way Buñuel shot the movie is not especially daring or original within Spanish cinema, and, despite what some people say, there is not surrealism in this movie, just some oniric images - two very different things that people mix too often. What makes the movie so interesting is not the realist way in which depicts 19th Spanish society (there are many movies of this sort in Spanish cinema), but how Buñuel approaches and modifies the story to bring out Tristana's dark side. The movie ends exploring the boundaries and limits of the economical, social, and gender orders, and, more importantly, the boundaries between good and evil. The story also shows the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, that preaches Socialist ideas and criticize wealth and the social order, despite them being wealthy, being part of that system and direct beneficiaries of the order they criticize.
In fact, in Tristana nothing is what it looks like, everything has two sides, there is not good and evil, but good-and-evil. The viewer starts despising and hating that indecent abuser of Don Lope, for his social hypocrisy and his sexual behavior, forgetting that young Tristana, despite despising him, does not oppose or resist his sexual advances, and lives like a princess from his money being as hypocrite as her master. A little intermezzo contains her meeting, love story, and escape with young bohemian painter Horacio. The viewer feels that this should be the end of the movie, the poor girl rescued by pure love. Mistake! - The second part of the movie, shows Tristana's true nature. She is sick and misses Don Lope and his wealth, so she leaves her lover and returns to Don Lope's house, and even marries him; he becomes her carer and dutiful husband. If Don Lope is a monster and treated her so badly why would she want to return to his place? She has soaked in all the preaching of his father-husband and uses them against him; she becomes the tyrant, the intolerant, the abuser, and the one that takes advantage of the old tamed Don Lope, who changes his behavior and customs to suit Tristana's needs and whims. Tristana ends being Don Lope's mirror image in reverse, a product of his teachings, but also a more wicked human being only interested in money, power, and revenge. The viewer ends thinking that nothing is what it looked like, and that both Don Lope and Tristana are connected to the core, identical in a way, evil both of them.
As always, Buñuel is a master at directing actors and creating an homogeneous ensemble of a group of big movie stars. Fernando Rey really nails his role, and offers a convincing range of emotions and behavior, from father to jealous father, from stallion to grandpa, from an open-minded intellectual to a petty tyrant, from funny guy to a jerk. Catherine Denueve is great in a role that suited her acting abilities, and her cold beauty is perfect for Tristana. Lola Gaos is great, as always, in her role of submissive hard-working servant, hard and sweet at the same time. The rest of the cast, which includes Franco Nero, Antonio Casas, and Jesus Fernandez, among many other supporting actors, are also good in their respective roles.
Not the best or most experimental Buñuel's movie, but very intriguing, with terrific performances, that offers an accurate portrait of Spain in the 19th century and explores controversial philosophical themes.
It tells the story of Tristana, a 19y.o. orphan girl, who moves to the house of her legal guardian, Don Lope, a socialist bourgeois womanizer, who becomes not only her father, but also her lover-husband.
The way Buñuel shot the movie is not especially daring or original within Spanish cinema, and, despite what some people say, there is not surrealism in this movie, just some oniric images - two very different things that people mix too often. What makes the movie so interesting is not the realist way in which depicts 19th Spanish society (there are many movies of this sort in Spanish cinema), but how Buñuel approaches and modifies the story to bring out Tristana's dark side. The movie ends exploring the boundaries and limits of the economical, social, and gender orders, and, more importantly, the boundaries between good and evil. The story also shows the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie, that preaches Socialist ideas and criticize wealth and the social order, despite them being wealthy, being part of that system and direct beneficiaries of the order they criticize.
In fact, in Tristana nothing is what it looks like, everything has two sides, there is not good and evil, but good-and-evil. The viewer starts despising and hating that indecent abuser of Don Lope, for his social hypocrisy and his sexual behavior, forgetting that young Tristana, despite despising him, does not oppose or resist his sexual advances, and lives like a princess from his money being as hypocrite as her master. A little intermezzo contains her meeting, love story, and escape with young bohemian painter Horacio. The viewer feels that this should be the end of the movie, the poor girl rescued by pure love. Mistake! - The second part of the movie, shows Tristana's true nature. She is sick and misses Don Lope and his wealth, so she leaves her lover and returns to Don Lope's house, and even marries him; he becomes her carer and dutiful husband. If Don Lope is a monster and treated her so badly why would she want to return to his place? She has soaked in all the preaching of his father-husband and uses them against him; she becomes the tyrant, the intolerant, the abuser, and the one that takes advantage of the old tamed Don Lope, who changes his behavior and customs to suit Tristana's needs and whims. Tristana ends being Don Lope's mirror image in reverse, a product of his teachings, but also a more wicked human being only interested in money, power, and revenge. The viewer ends thinking that nothing is what it looked like, and that both Don Lope and Tristana are connected to the core, identical in a way, evil both of them.
As always, Buñuel is a master at directing actors and creating an homogeneous ensemble of a group of big movie stars. Fernando Rey really nails his role, and offers a convincing range of emotions and behavior, from father to jealous father, from stallion to grandpa, from an open-minded intellectual to a petty tyrant, from funny guy to a jerk. Catherine Denueve is great in a role that suited her acting abilities, and her cold beauty is perfect for Tristana. Lola Gaos is great, as always, in her role of submissive hard-working servant, hard and sweet at the same time. The rest of the cast, which includes Franco Nero, Antonio Casas, and Jesus Fernandez, among many other supporting actors, are also good in their respective roles.
Not the best or most experimental Buñuel's movie, but very intriguing, with terrific performances, that offers an accurate portrait of Spain in the 19th century and explores controversial philosophical themes.