Tristana

Tony Scott's THE HUNGER is all style, with the occasional hint of substance thrown in almost as an afterthought. It plays with weighty themes (life and death, the weightiest of 'em all--and sexuality, a close second) but it's really only play. If it makes a statement on any of its themes, it's almost inadvertant. Scott's background as a director of television commercials is readily evident.

Bunuel, who has been described as among the least "visual" of the great directors, is all about making a statement. I wouldn't want to have to resort to my old high school English teachers' ploy of isolating one significant "message" in so rich a work. Bunuel explores his traditional themes of power, class, gender and religion but does not offer easily digestible "messages" on any of these. In the character of Don Lope, he shows how one can have contradictory sentiments on any of these matters. The don is an aristocrat living in genteel poverty. He hates the church, is suspicious of the state and ostensibly sympathizes with the weak and powerless. In the case of his ward, Tristana, however, he is himself controlling and domineering--to the point of abusing her emotionally and sexually.

Tristana does absorb some of the don's lessons. She becomes suspicious of the institution of marriage, for example. She seeks the personal freedom that Don Lope has always maintained was the ideal (at least for himself) and ultimately takes on a lover of her own choice but refuses his offer of marriage. Eventually, when illness forces her to return to the don, she does agree to marry him but--we soon learn--only as a means to turn tables on her aging and increasingly feeble "guardian." In the final scenes, she has completely gained the upper hand over the now frail aristocrat. The innocent of the film's opening scenes has been tranformed into an icy, vengeful harpy by its end.

Don Lope's progressive visions were illusions, if not outright lies. Any attempt to fashion his pupil into something of his own creation goes horribly awry, a turn of events that he should have foreseen had he truly been visionary. In truth, he was a merely a decadent aristocrat with a few idealistic affectations. Tristana's victory is that she sees that and is able to use his weaknesses to her own end. Her loss is that, in order to do so, she has become a monster herself.


Restrained but Psychologically Astute   February 2, 2003
Doug Anderson (Miami Beach, Florida United States)
Fernando Rey plays Don Lope, a man whose views are a strange blend of old and new. He professes a disdain for both the church and social conventions like marriage but in other matters he is as old fashioned as they come. The very first shot of the film is Don Lope flirting with a younger woman he passes in the street. When one of his sisters dies he becomes gaurdian of her beautiful teenage daughter Tristana played by Catherine Deneuve. Tristana is an innocent and at first Don Lope treats her like a daughter but one day while strolling he asks her for a kiss, Tristana is helpless to refuse nor can she refuse his further advances. One of the most memorable shots is when Don Lope dismisses the maid for a day then the camera slowly follows him as he moves toward Tristana then the camera slowly moves down the hallway wall stopping outside the bedroom door where we glimpse Tristana undressing before him just before the door closes. The absence of any dialogue is powerful in this slow silent scene. Don Lope often talks of individual freedoms but when it comes to exerting his will there is no questioning who is the master of the house. He is liberal minded enough to see through institutional forms of oppression but when it comes to his own self interests he is a tyrant--Tristana is virtually a prisoner to his whims, in fact she has a recurring dream throughout the movie which tells us how she really feels about her "father". As Tristana grows a little older and bolder she starts venturing out of the house more and more and soon she meets a man her own age who promises to steal her away from her situation. But when Tristana become ill she begs to be returned to Don Lope. At first this is perplexing but soon we realize that she longs for some kind of revenge and revenge she has. Though she has a lover who is devoted to her for Tristana hate proves the more powerful emotion. And as Don Lope becomes a helpless old man she becomes the willful tyrant he once was and her own desires turn toward another innocent. Family abuse proves to be a viscious cycle that does not stop turning.

The church is always a target for ridicule in Bunuel films. In this film the church is simply a powerless institution which cozies up to the rich and is puddy in their hands. The church officials try to talk Tristana into marrying Don Lope for appearance sake but the church never judges Don Lope. One of Bunuels more restrained pictures but also one of his more psychologically astute ones as well.


Fire and ice   February 16, 2001
Enrique Torres (San Diegotitlan, Califas)
Bunuel tackles some of his favorite issues and places major emphasis on his anti-clecical views. A pretty good movie, agnostic and amoral, it has enough redeeming qualites to make for imteresting viewing. The performances by the two main characters are superb. This movie is very much like "Viridiana" but without the cast of oddball characters. Do all old men lust for their daughters or entrusted daughters? Bunuel tackles the incestous relationship theme, again. It even has Fernando Rey, again playing a lecherous, old man, who seduces a woman, young enough to be his great-grand daughter. The story evolves around Don Lope who takes in a beautiful young orphan, Tristana, as played by Catherine Deneuve, and falls for her in an attempt to revitilize his life. She's young , he's real old, I'm beginning to wonder if Bunuel wasn't either wishful thinking or being autobiographical? Anyway, Tristana does little to resist but along the way meets an artist more her age. The character of Tristana is probably most interesting as she is innocent in the beginning and if you can get past the slow parts develops into quite the opposite character. She develops an illness that adds to her icy metamorphisis. There are often periods in the movie with silence, as in the beginning in the orphange, when a game of futbol is being played by deaf mutes. Bunuel's use of silence is effective to draw the viewers attention to the serene beauty of the landscapes of Toledo during the 1920-30's. Shot in color, the scenes are quite beautiful. The inside of the houses are magnificently recreated for authenticity. Since Don Lope is a sort of aristocratic man much of the scenes are in and around his home. The supporting cast is pretty good with an excellent performance by Lola Gaos, who is Saturna, Don Lope's housekeeper and Tristana's confidant.The portrayl of men in this movie is less than flaterring, I guess Bunuel thought all men are pigs. Overall I liked the movie, didn't love it. It drones on and on it places but eventually picks up, problem is by then it is almost over. It was nominated(lost) for an Oscar for best foreign movie in 1971 so who am I to say it was just ok, certainly not Luis Bunuel or the academy. Would I dare to go against them and give it only 3 stars? I should have but didn't.


Ingratitud y desamor   December 4, 2000
Sinforozo (P.R.)
Ingratitud y desamor.

En la Espana Franquista, donde la represion esta en cada una de las vidas de sus ciudadanos, surge el retrato de Tristana (Catherine Deneuve) una mujer cuya vida recorre entre la iglesia y su casa. Sometida por una familia dominante, que la subordina a un tutor y posterior esposo Don Lope (Fernando Rey). Cuando el joven atrativo (Franco Nero) aparece en su vida, y cree haber solucionado sus aspiraciones, y deseos de amor, es abandonada en medio de su desventura. Tristana es el retrato de una sociedad sometida a sus prejuicios y desventuras, donde sus aspiraciones se ven frustradas, por la ingratitud y el desamor.


Ingratitud y desamor.   November 22, 2000
Sinforozo (P.R.)
En la Espana Franquista, donde la represion esta en cada una de las vidas de sus ciudadanos, surge el retrato de Tristana (Catherine Deneuve) una mujer cuya vida recorre entre la iglesia y su casa. Sometida por una familia dominante, que la subordina a un tutor y posterior esposo Don Lope (Fernando Rey). Cuando el joven atrativo (Franco Nero) aparece en su vida, y cree haber solucionado sus aspiraciones, y deseos de amor, es abandonada en medio de su desventura. Tristana es el retrato de una sociedad sometida a sus prejuicios y desventuras, donde sus aspiraciones se ven frustradas, por la ingratitud y el desamor.