Tags
2000's, Blanca Portillo, Carmen Maura, Drama, Foreign Language Film, Lola Dueñas, Pedro Almodóvar, Penélope Cruz, Volver, Yohana Cobo
Film Title
Volver
Director
Pedro Almodóvar
Starring
- Penélope Cruz as Raimunda
- Carmen Maura as Irene
- Lola Dueñas as Sole
- Yohana Cobo as Paula
- Blanca Portillo as Augustina
A melding of genres and a celebration of womanhood, Volver is a layered movie from Pedro Almodóvar. Weaving together a galaxy of themes with deft assurance, he crafts Volver with pathos and a stellar cast, headed by an astounding Penélope Cruz.
Raimunda is a hard-working woman who along with her shy sister Sole used to live in a windswept region of La Mancha. Both sisters now reside in Madrid, along with Raimunda’s teenage daughter Paula. Often Raimunda and Sole travel back to La Mancha to tend to the graves of their parents, who perished years before in a terrible fire and also take time to visit their ageing Aunt Paula. Meanwhile Raimunda works tirelessly to provide for her daughter and lay about husband, who recently got fired for his laziness and drinking. She must also contend with Aunt Paula talking as if the girl’s mother is still alive and well. Augustina, a family friend with her own problems, is also on hand to help at times and speaks of how Aunt Paula has been speaking like this for a while and believes her. Before overworked Raimunda can consider this possibility, three particularly testing events take place for her. First her daughter accidentally kills her father after he attempted to assault her, leaving Raimunda with a body to dispose of. Then she is left in charge of a friend’s restaurant , which could help her money wise and give her somewhere to hide her husband’s corpse. And then Aunt Paula dies quite suddenly before elaborating on her stories of their mother’s return. But all of this is just the tip of the iceberg for Raimunda and Sole. Their mother Irene returns(just like Aunt Paula said), seemingly from beyond the grave. She wishes to help her daughters in ways that she couldn’t while alive. She also wishes to mend the relationships and atone for the past, especially with Raimunda, from who she was estranged for a long time. But will any of these issues be resolved as more skeletons rattle in closets for everyone? And how many more eventful occurrences can be thrown at Raimunda and Sole?
Pedro Almodóvar is a director who loves women and nowhere is this more apparent than here in Volver. He clearly understands and is intrigued by women and from his own pen and direction, the experience of sorority and the things that women go through on a daily basis in life take colourful shape. His biggest achievement is his mixture of filming styles and switches in tone, complete with genre hopping and references to other film makers. There is a little bit of Hitchcock in the parts where Raimunda covers up the murder of her husband in various ways that generate some real suspense as well as black humour. The melodramas of Douglas Sirk get a shout out in the domestic struggles and issues faced by females, that are ever-present for Raimunda and the ladies surrounding her. And the magical realism of a ghost returning( which fits with the title that translates into ‘to go back’) is just another inspired ingredient to a film that pulls it all off admirably. Considering all the disparate influences at play, it says a lot that the final product is something clearly in Almodóvar’s vision and control. Tragedy, comedy and drama meet and create a film that is brimming with content, leaving there to be nary a dull moment. Themes like death, family scars, secrecy and infidelity are explored with both tinges of humour and melancholy with neither one of the two rising above the other. There is something so rich about Volver with its eye-popping colour scheme and collection of topics covered; it’s almost like stepping into another world where between scenes something new is infused with the craftsmanship of an artist at work and at his apex. You’ll be laughing one moment, then moved the next by this layered work on show. And that score from Alberto Iglesias matches the rapid switches in tone effortlessly.
Penélope Cruz turns in an astonishing performance as Raimunda, who is constantly besieged by events that she tries to weather. So much of what happens depends on the character and Cruz never misses a beat. She exudes so many emotions and a sense of fortitude that is unmistakable. The character of Raimunda is one that is a dream for an actress and Cruz makes it her own. All the strength, hard life, sadness and sexiness is presented in such a natural and sublime way that for my money, this is the best performance that Penélope Cruz has ever given to cinema. And the rest of the cast is none too shabby either. A moving Carmen Maura is wonderfully cast as the returning mother and through her face, you can see the regret and pain that has haunted her and resulted in her reappearance. Lola Dueñas contributes a suitably mousy vulnerability and sweetness as the timid Sole, who is the first to encounter her returned and seemingly reanimated mother. Sole is someone who is the complete opposite of her outspoken sister and Dueñas excels at getting this across. The young Yohana Cobo is ideal for playing the teenage daughter, while a barely contained melancholy emits from Blanca Portillo as she essays the role of Augustina.
An extremely enthralling and eventful movie that covers a lot of ground without ever getting boring, Volver is an experience from a director at the top of his game, both thematically and stylistically. This film is not to be missed under any circumstances as it will no doubt resonate with you in some way from beginning to touching finale.
Jay said:
Ah, she’s lovely.
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vinnieh said:
Indeed, Penelope Cruz is a goddess.
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Pimpf said:
an interesting from Almodovar , even though I’m not usuallly fan of his stuff, this one stands above the rest of his stuff for me 🙂
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vinnieh said:
I haven’t seen that much of his work, but I want to seek more of it out now.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I hadn’t heard of this, so thank you for reviewing this Vinnie. It’s going on my must see list!😊
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vinnieh said:
Oh Kim, this is simply a must see film. I advise everyone to see it.
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
I definitely will watch it as soon as I can Vinnie!😊
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vinnieh said:
I can’t praise it enough. It’s an experience.
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beetleypete said:
Please watch it, Kim. It is just fantastic!
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By Hook Or By Book ~ Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff said:
Hi Pete! I most definitely will!💁🏻
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beetleypete said:
This is one of my favourite films. Carmen Maura is always a delight to watch, she is one of my all-time best actresses. And Penny Cruz is so much better in her native Spanish, as well as being irresistible!.
The whole thing is just wonderful, and I do not have one single negative comment to say about it.
Cheers, Pete.
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vinnieh said:
I remembered you recommending it Pete. Thanks for that as I enjoyed it so much. Just watching all the styles and craftsmanship of Almodovar was fantastic. And his casting was sublime. No bad performances from any of the ladies.
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beetleypete said:
I can recommend ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ And, ‘All About My Mother’. Both sublime films, V.
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vinnieh said:
Both duly noted Pete. This was my first Almodóvar movie and now I wish to watch more of his films.
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beetleypete said:
I have all but one on DVD. He is a one-off mate. Just perfect.
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vinnieh said:
I’ll have to make my way through his material. He’s been pretty prolific over the years.
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vinnieh said:
And as I stated in the review Pete, I love that he understands women and is intrigued by them.
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ninvoid99 said:
This is pretty much one of my all-time favorite films by Almodovar as it’s a film that has so much to offer but also has something that is very universal. It’s a film my mother likes and my grandmother likes as it has a lot of things about families including a hilarious fart joke.
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vinnieh said:
I want to check out more from the director now as this was my first introduction to his work. You are right about it being universal as a film, it has something so many people can relate to, especially women. Which of Almodóvar’s movies would you suggest I see next?
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ninvoid99 said:
For me, I would start with All About My Mother and Talk to Her. Then go to films like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Laws of Desire, and recent films like Broken Embraces and The Skin I Live In which are Almodovar at his most essential and dangerous. Then go to the rest of his body of work.
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vinnieh said:
I’ve noted them down. Thank you kindly for the recommendations. He’s quite a prolific director of good content it seems.
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casuallybuff said:
Wonderful film and in my collection
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vinnieh said:
I haven’t seen anything quite like this film. It was its own unique thing that didn’t play by any rules.
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Rincewind said:
A truly lovingly movie by Almodovar. I so enjoyed this movie.
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vinnieh said:
I found myself entranced by everything about this movie. It captured me in a way that few movies have.
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A Silent Spectator said:
Vinnieh… I want you to watch “Taare Zameen Par” (like stars on earth) and review that for me, pls
*Its a Bollywood movie, so you will require subtitles too!😉
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vinnieh said:
Thank you for the suggestion, I’ll see if I can get a copy of that movie.
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filmsCine said:
I love Pedro Almodovar, and you’re right – there’s no male director that understands women more than he does!
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vinnieh said:
You can clearly see that he admires and respects women in a way that few male directors do. What an excellent talent of his to have.
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filmsCine said:
My favourite movies of his have got to be La Ley Del Deseo (Law of Desire) and The Skin I Live In, have you seen those?
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vinnieh said:
I haven’t seen them yet, but someone did suggest them to me not so long ago.
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filmsCine said:
it might have been me.. 🙂
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SLIP/THROUGH - Dan said:
Great review of a great movie. I love me some Almodovar… especially his earlier work with Cruz and Bardem. As for more ‘recent’ films, have you seen All About My Mother? It’s even better than Volver (although maybe not as funny). Thanks for shining the nerdy spotlight on foreign cinema too. Good stuff, Vinnie!
As for movies with strong women, have you seen Eve’s Bayou? It’s an incredible character piece with some mystery too. Just awesome! Another gem I think you’d like is Y Tu Mama Tambien (sexual coming of age). Oh… and Amores Perros is fantastic too. I’m full of recommendations today hehehe.
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vinnieh said:
This is actually the only movie of his that I’ve viewed. I’ve sworn to rectify that as soon as I can. I do love giving moves the analytical approach. Thank you for the other recommendations too Dan.
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SLIP/THROUGH - Dan said:
In that case, check out Jamon Jamon and Live Flesh. Super steamy and sexy flicks. Almodovar champions women (especially as his career progressed) but his early work was even more sensual and stylish. Plus, you can see why Cruz and Javier Bardem made it stateside – it’s mostly down to their work with Almodovar. Now both are recognizable names in Hollywood.
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vinnieh said:
I quite like steamy flicks. And I do love both actors, guess that’s more movies for me to list down and eventually get round to seeing.
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keepsmealive said:
Saw this ages ago. Really need to see it again. Thanks! Damn, man, you’re hard to keep up with – I need two lifetimes for watching and hearing all the stuff I wanna see and hear!
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vinnieh said:
I keep busy with my movie watching and always like to explore new things.
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