Volver

I'm not going to tell you what the film is about because what was about for me it may not be for you and one of the many pleasures of the film is to find yourself there. Just let me say that after the Sahara, Vanilla Sky and Captain Corelli's Mandolin's adventures in Hollywood, I had discarded Penelope Cruz as an actress, completely. Well, "Volver" made me swallow my judgment. She is, quite simply, spectacular. A sort of Sophia Loren when Sophia worked with Vittorio De Sica. She is a mass of contradictions and not for a moment she tries to play for sympathy.Her emotion is contagious and makes us comprehend the incomprehensible. Carmen Maura makes a chilling, beautiful and unique entrance into this sublime Almodovar film based on his most scrumptious screenplay. The women stick together for each other's sake, they may even cross unspeakable boundaries for sheer compassion. The film uplifted me in a way that no other film has done in a long, long time.

Volver is a movie centering on women, for the woman.

Volver (pronounced Bol-ber in Spanish) means "Return". The theme "return" revolves around the film. Three generations of women: The granny (Carmen Maura) returning from the dead, the mother Raimunda (Penelope Cruz) returning from her discordant life, and daughter (Yohana Cobo) recovering from abuse from her step father.

Penelope Cruz is colorful and affecting playing Raimunda, probably her best role to date. This role will assure others of her capability to act, napping several Best Actresses nominations to date. She may have lost the Oscars to the Queen, but she won't be just known as the ex-girlfriend of Tom Cruise.

This is a culturally rich movie which brings us to the back alleys of Spain, looking at lives from the rich to the poor. The cinematography is vibrant as well, as the screen is littered with the rich tomatoes, floral dresses and a top-angle view of Penelope Cruz assets. All done on purpose and beautifully definitely.

There are many 'woman' issues – from motherhood, single hood, sister hood, self worth and independence. Male actors are almost non-existence, playing only bit parts and there is no hint of any impending love stories. Perhaps this is also why I didn't identify much with this movie. For the males, do not worry as Volver isn't any soapy melodrama. With its twists and fun, it is still an enjoyable comedy about second chances.

Volver – The women scores, and so does Penelope http://themovieclub.blogspot.com

Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) and her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) travel from Madrid to the windy and superstitious village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to visit the grave of their mother and aunt Irene (Carmen Maura), who died years ago in a fire with her husband. Then they visit Irene's sister Paula (Chus Lampreave), an old senile aunt that raised Raimunda after the death of her parents that insists to tell them that Irene is alive and living with her; later, they go to the house of her neighbor and friend Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who gives a support to Paula. They return to Madrid, and after a hard day of work, Raimunda meets her daughter completely disturbed in the bus stop waiting for her. When they arrive home, Paula tells that she killed her unemployed father Paco (Antonio de la Torre), who was completely drunk and tried to rape her. While Raimunda is hiding his body, Sole calls her to tell that their beloved aunt Paula had died. On the next morning, Sole travels alone to the funeral, and when she returns to Madrid, she finds her mother hided in the truck of her car. She brings Irene to her apartment, where secrets from the past are disclosed.

"Volver" is another great movie of this awesome director Pedro Almodóvar, who explores the emotions of the characters in a mysterious and traumatic situation. It is visible that Almodóvar changed his original aggressive style to a more commercial and less anarchic one, keeping his trademark with the usual bright colors, but without the usual references to the Catholic church or homosexual and bizarre characters, maybe because he is more experienced now. Nevertheless, it is impressive how Penélope Cruz is a stunning actress when she works in her home country, and Almodóvar achieves a magnificent performance not only from her, but from this wonderful cast. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Volver"

An extremely kind, compassionate and tender film noir, from Spain's most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, might lack some of the suspense his other movies are famous for, but still it keeps the spectator thrilled and anxious until the very last moments. Anyone who likes Almodovar movies should see this one, and you can bring your family along, for a change (kids and grandmas alike).

Indeed, the movie lacks some of the usual Almodovar suspense, and whatever mysteries it contains, are generally solved by the viewer some 20 minutes before they are explicitly and verbally elaborated on screen. It looks like Almodovar lost some of his interest in the telltale part of his movies, paying more attention to acting and emotions. Well, acting is fully worth the shift.

Penelope Cruz is predictably brilliant and gorgeous, but performance by other ladies (from the elderly Chuz Lampreave to teenage Cobo) is also worth applause.

EPIC COMEDY If we get to forget the delirious and delicious comedy side of the film, we find an epic story of what the second half of the past century was for so many women in Spain. Moving from the town to the city(from La Mancha to Madrid, from great patio houses full of architectural wisdom to terrific social housing apartments in the suburbs of the city), fighting against the elements(fire that burns down like love, wind that drives you crazy, water that used to fill our rivers and now is gone), having bad luck with men as the only possible fate, exercising companionship, imagination, tenderness and shrewdness as their only weapons for surviving. Keeping dignity untouched inside them.

ACTRESSES Pedro Almodovar in this film is like a top ten chef reinventing the most popular dishes of his own culture! The movie is a tasting menu of the greatest playing actresses with the best possible direction. The wild instinct of Penelope to construct a suburban animal, with strong links to Italian mommas, the touching interpretation of Blanca Portillo, simply mind blowing, the master lesson from Chus Lampreave that fills the theater with rivers of affection, the young actress Yohana Cobo that achieves success in some of the most difficult takes in the film, and Lola Dueñas that gets the plainest part and gives it a huge dimension with high level performance for comedy. And Carmen Maura, that stars the story like a Japanese terror movie star, she is like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of La Mancha.

DENSITY AND GRATITUDE So we have an epic story, great actresses, and a refined comedy that fills the spectator with gratitude, at least that is my case. I just have no defense in front of a film like this, that tells me a great story, makes me laugh, and has the highest detail density in objects colors, comments, views, gestures, references, movements and subplots. That is probably the only trouble with it, more than one view is necessary to catch it all, if possible!