The specter of a dead mother looms large over the lives of Raymunda and her sister Sole. In fact, when we first meet them, they are cleaning their parents' grave in their small hometown's cemetery. Since both sisters have left the town for Madrid, the sisters, as well as most of the people from the small town are doing that, maybe to observe All Souls Day. It appears that both sisters have bad memories of the small rural village where they grew up. Raimunda, more than Sole, has to deal with her own demons and their visits to their older aunt Paula, who is going senile, cause anxiety in them.
The older aunt Paula, has lived near the kind Agustina, a good neighbor. Like in most small towns, there is a legend where most of the people in town have seen what they feel is the ghost of Irene, the dead mother of the two sisters and Paula's sister, who supposedly died in the arms of their father in a small hut during a fire. Agustina's mother, coincidentally, disappeared from the town just around that time. When the mystery surrounding the dead Irene is solved, it doesn't surprise us because we realize real ghosts are products of the imagination. The revelation of a family secret united Irene and Raimunda as they make peace with one another.
"Volver", Pedro Almodovar's latest film, pays tribute to women trapped in bad marriages. It also pays tribute to a Spain that doesn't exist anymore. Most of those towns near the big cities have disappeared. With them went the rich lives the inhabitants of those villages created for them and their families. The post Franco Spain has evolved into a modern country in which people have no love for the work in the fields. Most people end up in places like Madrid where there is more prosperity, yet, their lives suffer because they are lost in the anonymity of the large metropolis.
Pedro Almodovar has taken a thorny issue, incest, to be at the heart of the story. Irene's husband, a womanizer, and Paco, Raymunda's husband are men of great sexual appetites, who don't care who they hurt, as long as they can satisfy their hideous desires. Obviously, this problem is more common than one can imagine. The director deals with it in a sober way, without sensationalizing it.
Supposedly, Pedro Almodovar, is paying tribute to his own mother, and the women he knew growing up in a small town of La Mancha with this new film. Like the Argentine writer, Manuel Puig, Almodovar discovered a the possibilities in portraying those women from his formative years. He also has a great ear for what goes on when women gather to talk. One example comes to mind when all the women in the town are seen at the old aunt's wake, as Sole, who is afraid of seeing dead people gets into Agustina's house and suddenly surrounded by Paula's friends.
There is an indication that comes late in the film that Almodovar must have found an inspiration in those Italian domestic dramas of the fifties, as we see Irene watching a Luchino Visconti's film, "Bellissima", in which Anna Magnani reigns supreme. This Raimunda, in a lot of ways resemble her Italian prototype in the way she has been presented in the movie.
Penelope Cruz, whose Hollywood career doesn't amount to much, is one of the best things in "Volver". Ms. Cruz shows that with the right director behind her, she can deliver. The other great presence, and we could even dare say, no one has paid her praise for her contribution in the film, is the great Carmen Maura. Playing Irene, Ms. Maura does wonders with her character, a woman that has hidden from her own daughter because of the shame she has carried for many years.
The others in the cast, notably Lola Duenas, and the excellent Blanca Portillo, enhance the film with their presence. Johana Cobo plays Raimunda's daughter. The comic relief comes by way of Cuban actress Maria Isabel Diaz, who plays the kind prostitute Regina, a woman who proves to be a real friend when Raimunda needs her. Chus Lampreave, another Almodovar regular, doesn't have much to do.
"Volver" shows a mature Pedro Almodovar at the top of his form.
The older aunt Paula, has lived near the kind Agustina, a good neighbor. Like in most small towns, there is a legend where most of the people in town have seen what they feel is the ghost of Irene, the dead mother of the two sisters and Paula's sister, who supposedly died in the arms of their father in a small hut during a fire. Agustina's mother, coincidentally, disappeared from the town just around that time. When the mystery surrounding the dead Irene is solved, it doesn't surprise us because we realize real ghosts are products of the imagination. The revelation of a family secret united Irene and Raimunda as they make peace with one another.
"Volver", Pedro Almodovar's latest film, pays tribute to women trapped in bad marriages. It also pays tribute to a Spain that doesn't exist anymore. Most of those towns near the big cities have disappeared. With them went the rich lives the inhabitants of those villages created for them and their families. The post Franco Spain has evolved into a modern country in which people have no love for the work in the fields. Most people end up in places like Madrid where there is more prosperity, yet, their lives suffer because they are lost in the anonymity of the large metropolis.
Pedro Almodovar has taken a thorny issue, incest, to be at the heart of the story. Irene's husband, a womanizer, and Paco, Raymunda's husband are men of great sexual appetites, who don't care who they hurt, as long as they can satisfy their hideous desires. Obviously, this problem is more common than one can imagine. The director deals with it in a sober way, without sensationalizing it.
Supposedly, Pedro Almodovar, is paying tribute to his own mother, and the women he knew growing up in a small town of La Mancha with this new film. Like the Argentine writer, Manuel Puig, Almodovar discovered a the possibilities in portraying those women from his formative years. He also has a great ear for what goes on when women gather to talk. One example comes to mind when all the women in the town are seen at the old aunt's wake, as Sole, who is afraid of seeing dead people gets into Agustina's house and suddenly surrounded by Paula's friends.
There is an indication that comes late in the film that Almodovar must have found an inspiration in those Italian domestic dramas of the fifties, as we see Irene watching a Luchino Visconti's film, "Bellissima", in which Anna Magnani reigns supreme. This Raimunda, in a lot of ways resemble her Italian prototype in the way she has been presented in the movie.
Penelope Cruz, whose Hollywood career doesn't amount to much, is one of the best things in "Volver". Ms. Cruz shows that with the right director behind her, she can deliver. The other great presence, and we could even dare say, no one has paid her praise for her contribution in the film, is the great Carmen Maura. Playing Irene, Ms. Maura does wonders with her character, a woman that has hidden from her own daughter because of the shame she has carried for many years.
The others in the cast, notably Lola Duenas, and the excellent Blanca Portillo, enhance the film with their presence. Johana Cobo plays Raimunda's daughter. The comic relief comes by way of Cuban actress Maria Isabel Diaz, who plays the kind prostitute Regina, a woman who proves to be a real friend when Raimunda needs her. Chus Lampreave, another Almodovar regular, doesn't have much to do.
"Volver" shows a mature Pedro Almodovar at the top of his form.