Product Description
Two sisters living in Madrid learn from their aunt that their mother, killed years earlier in a fire has returned.Amazon.com
Spanish for "Coming Back," Volver is a return to the all-female format of All About My Mother. Unlike Pedro Almodóvar's previous two pictures, the story revolves around a group of women in Madrid and his native La Mancha. (The cast received a collective best actress award at Cannes.) Raimunda (a zaftig Penélope Cruz) is the engine powering this heartfelt, yet humorous vehicle. When husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) is murdered, Raimunda makes like Mildred Pierce to deflect attention away from daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo). After telling everyone the lout has left, she struggles to conceal his body. The other women in her life all have secrets of their own. Her sister, Sole (Lola Dueñas), for instance, has taken in their mother, Irene (a sprightly Carmen Maura). Since Irene perished in a fire, is this person a ghost or simply a woman who looks like her? Then there's their childhood friend, Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who is desperate to find out why her mother disappeared after the blaze. Was she responsible? Almodóvar deftly blends the ghost story with the murder mystery in his tribute to the Italian neo-realist films of the 1950s. The resilient Raimunda is a throwback to the earthy heroines of Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani. The latter appears in Luchino Visconti's Bellissima, which shows up on Sole's television one night (thus confirming the link). If Almodóvar’s 16th feature lacks the emotional punch of the more audacious Talk to Her, it's less heavy-handed than Bad Education and Cruz is a revelation. --Kathleen C. FennessyAlso Recommended...
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
A grown up 'Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'But - for me - something gets a little lost in the last 20 minutes - plot elements that need to be explained never are, while things I didn't really care about, or liked the unsolved mystery of, are explained in great, literal detail that somehow lessens the impact. None-the-less, yet another imaginative, creative, funny and thoughtful film by Almodovar.
0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
Something for everyone0 out of 0 people found this review helpful:
I liked "Volver"...Penelope Cruz is very good in this movie, she is beautiful and an actress to boot.
The plot is intriguing and different. It is great to see a movie that has explored something new, plot-wise. I don't want to reveal the plot, there are twists...!
I enjoyed it very much and am now buying it for my daughters. (I think it will appeal more to women, but my husband said he enjoyed it too!)
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful:
Very pleased.1 out of 1 people found this review helpful:
story of women, frequently mezmerizingThe memorable opening scene makes the point. Women from a village in the Spanish plains are busy polishing and cleaning their husbands' headstones and tombs. The camera widens and we see scores and scores of women.
Penelope Cruz gives a wonderful performance. Her presence lights up the screen even when she is seen weeping bitterly. At such moments, she looks almost haggard but her inner beauty shines through.
Cruz is at the fulcrum of this movie. I don't want to disclose any surprises so I'll simply say the story concerns three generations of women, all of whom have to overcome the trauma of ill-treatment by men. They do so by painfully uniting.
The photography is frequently arresting and the story engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
