Cet Obscur Objet Du Desir (aka That Obscure Object Of Desire) (1977)

An aging Frenchman (Fernando Rey) becomes obsessed with a young Spanish dancer (played by two different actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina). He smothers her with gifts, money, apartments in his attempt to possess her while she, ever clinging to her virginity, teases and leads him on to the point of a near meltdown. Based on the novel THE WOMAN AND THE PUPPET by Pierre Louys and directed by Luis Bunuel (VIRIDIANA). Bunuel goes all surrealistic once again but this time without the irreverence. It's a one joke movie and the joke gets tedious very quickly. For some reason, Bunuel has set the story against the backdrop of a terrorist insurgency but it seems arbitrary and never becomes part of the film's fabric. Other surreal touches like a woman carrying a pig around in public like a baby seem there just for the hell of it. The film's admirers make claims for the film's gimmick casting of two different actresses for the same role as something to do with the duality of woman but neither Bouquet (who four years later would become the Bond girl of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) or Molina give a performance that much different from the other. Reputedly, the idea of two actresses playing the same part occurred after Bunuel realized the original actress cast (Maria Schneider, LAST TANGO IN PARIS) was unsuitable. Still, it may be minor Bunuel but it's still Bunuel, master film maker and therefore never without interest.