Review of Tristana (1970) by David B — 26 Jan 2016

When this film was released in 1970 Spain was still under the regime of Franco however its cinema was definitely epic as this film proves.

In a nutshell the film follows the story of a young Spanish girl Tristana (Catherine Deneve) who we discover at the start has been adopted by her recently deceased mother's friend Don Lope (Fernando Rey).

What begins as an apparent adopted father/daughter relationship we discover turns into a more sexual nature although this is not shown on screen.

Tristana begins the film as a timid virgin.

Don Lope is a typical miserable socialist who would rather live with the minimum of material possessions to fund a workshy lifestyle.

As the film develops Tristana breaks free from the hold of Lope and flees with lover Horacio (Franco Nero who some may recognise from Django and Django Unchained).

However Tristan develops a setios illness and for some reason moves back in with Lope even taking the vow of marriage.

She has her ill leg amputated and develops a sinister streak redulting in her inaction when Lope is dying.

What begins the film as a timid young girl is now a confident/vengeful woman.

Director Luis Buñuel tells a good story of revenge in a world cinema (Spanish) setting.

The film does not have the pacing of your average Hollywood release and this will probably put many off but it is a good story told by Buñuel.