One of the great movies of the early '70s. Catherine Deneuve is the title character, left in the care of older Fernando Rey, an aristocrat fallen on hard times. Rey is a staunch socialist and unabashed liberal willing to give all to those less fortunate while being a cruel misogynist who lets his lurid intentions known to the innocent Deneuve and makes no apology for it. When Deneuve leaves him for young artist Franco Nero, Rey, true to character, berates her and challenges Nero to a duel! Bunuel's jarring film exposes the cruelties men and women lob at each other while at the same time appearing to be genuinely kind to the disenfranchised. It's a truly unsettling film with a mid-film twist that is particularly shocking. The acting is brilliant. Rey is more than just dependable. He embodies the old guard, an honorable man who scoffs at authority and power as he defends those with even less than himself. Deneuve solidifies her her status as not only one of the screen's great beauties, but a fine actress willing to use her looks to play not only flighty or distressed waifs, but really cruel characters as well (as Tristana becomes after fate hands her a horrifying blow).
Review of Tristana
