Film: Volver
Release date: 13th August 2007
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 mins
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama
Studio: Pathe
Format: DVD
Country: Spain
Penelope Cruz and director Pedro Almodovar come together once again, this time exploring the lives (and death) of six women in his acclaimed drama, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2006.
Volver opens with a wonderful sweeping shot of women cleaning graves, where sisters Raimunda (played by Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas), with Raimunda’s teenage daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo), attend to the grave of their parents, who died in a fire four years earlier. More is revealed about this later in the film, but in the meantime we begin to learn about the lives of these incredible female characters.
The sisters grew up in a village in La Mancha, where Almodovar himself spent his youth, and now live in Madrid. Raimunda is a hardworking mother, whom you immediately warm to when you meet her layabout boyfriend Paco (Antonio de la Torre), who sits in front of the TV recounting how he has lost his job, while she seethes in the kitchen. After Paco makes sexual advances towards her daughter, a threatened Paula reacts in self defence and Raimunda returns to the house to find Paco stabbed to death on the kitchen floor. Cue amusing shots of Raimunda attempting to clean up the mess with kitchen towel and a mop, then answering the door with a splash of blood on her chest (the problem? “Women’s troubles,” of course – and not entirely inaccurate). The cover-up operation follows as she works out what to do, all the time insisting that she will take the blame for the incident.
Divorced elder sister Sole, meanwhile, has had an unsettling vision of their mother as a ghost (an appearance by Carmen Maura after a long break from working with Almodovar) when the girls go to visit their wonderful, slightly senile aunt. The mother’s appearance will prove significant both for the sisters and the character Agustina, as she returns to reconcile issues from beyond the grave - fulfilling the title Volver, which literally means ‘to return’ in Spanish...
What carries this film are the outstanding performances by the lead actresses, an ensemble female cast that won a joint Best Actress prize at Cannes. United through family, friendship and love, the strength of these characters shines through. The sheer determination of Raimunda, who is ultimately the movie’s heroine, is eminent. She is clever and resourceful, opening up a neighbour’s restaurant to serve food to a nearby movie crew to earn much needed cash. Even in scenes where she is wrestling with Paco’s corpse to try and manoeuvre it into the freezer (where it stays for while as she runs the restaurant), you are completely rooting for her.
Many of Almodovar’s movies deal with tough issues, such as death, illness and torn relationships, which could make a film downbeat and depressing in the hands of other directors. But it is the warm-hearted friendships, family ties and, most importantly, humour which resonates in Almodovar’s work. This is illustrated in his earlier film All About My Mother, where Penelope Cruz plays a nun who becomes both pregnant and HIV positive after a relationship with a transsexual. Yet despite the subject matter, the film is surprisingly uplifting, and the same can be said for Volver, arguably even more so. Watching Volver leaves you feeling that these characters could conquer the world.
Penelope Cruz, in particular, really stands out in the film, and not just because of her stunning looks and prosthetic bottom. Cruz and Pedro Almodovar really seem to bring out the best in each other. She has starred in four of his films to date, and has been widely quoted saying Almodovar inspired her to start acting. Besides great performances, the strength of the film also lies in the intricate plot, which gradually unfolds as the movie draws on. The director rarely reveals too much of the plot at once, instead giving you hints of a narrative, and then cleverly pulling it all together at the end - usually with some kind of unexpected twist.
It’s gripping stuff, as well as warm, funny and genuinely uplifting. A highlight from an incredibly talented director who just seems to get better and better with each release. KB
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