Tristana (Luis Bunuel, 1970)Adam & Josh's takes (starts at 1:20:19)First, a disclaimer : I unfortunately watched the French dub for this... about 15 minutes in I checked to see if Spanish was an option (since Deneuve was clearly the only member of the cast not being dubbed), but nope, that was all my DvD had.
This probably didn't help the film, as I had some trouble really engaging with it (especially early on) and I suspect I might have liked it a lot more had I watched it with the correct audio, because Bunuel, now towards the end of his life, is finally allowing for some subtelty in his main characters*. Fernando Rey is not repressed sexually, quite the contrary, and the relationship between him and Deneuve is remarkably complex and interesting... now there's no doubt that our sympathy lies with Deneuve, but as she grows from the avatar of pure innocence into a resentful and vengeful woman, he grows sweeter and more understanding, which allows for an ambiguity that I found lacking in Bunuel's non-silent work until now.
Part of it is also due to Deneuve. I was unsure about her performance in the first half, maybe because "innocent girl" isn't all that interesting a character, but once she starts taking action, first by appropriating Rey's libertine lifestyle for herself, then by becoming a horror movie monster (only slightly exagerating, those scenes of her pacing back and forth in the night are disturbing), Deneuve gets to do some acting and she really commits to it.
Ultimately I still struggled with the film, in large part because of the dubbing (unfair, but it is what it is) but also the film's weird pace. This is an adaptation, and the story takes place over several decades, with multiple time jumps... but Bunuel never does anything to indicate them other than dialogue. Just because it's Bunuel you might say it's a "surrealist touch", but I don't see what purpose it has, other than being disconcerting.
6/10*I say this having not seen a lot of his greatest films, so maybe The Exterminating Angel and Belle de Jour are filled with subtlety... I'm just basing this on the films in this marathon + Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie.