Volver
2006. Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. Starring Penelope Cruz, Lola Duenas, Carmen Maura, Yohana Cobo, and Blanca Portillo. Subtitled.
Maturity is a relative term and Pedrom Almodovar has indeed matured as a filmmaker. It is apparent in his brilliant stretch of films beginning with 1999’s All About My Mother and continuing with Talk to Her, Bad Education, and now Volver. Bad Education is a very good movie. The other three films are superb. There is more humanity and seriousness in Almodovar’s recent work. These films do not seek to shock you but instead lead you to compassion. The work is quieter, though as in maturity and seriousness, these are relative terms. Only compared to his earlier work would you think to call Almodovar quiet. He is still a bold and vivid storyteller but his focus is on the thoughts and struggles inside people.
Volver follows two sisters and looks at how they are dealing with what their lives have brought them. They had very different relationships with their mother, who they lost in a fire a few years ago. Sole (a terrific Lola Duenas) hears voices in her trunk and discovers what she assumes to be the ghost of her dead mother, who she takes in, cleans up, and puts to work in her hair salon. I am so willing to follow Almodovar anywhere that I didn’t even blink at the possibility of the smelly ghost of an old woman coming into her daughter’s home and hiding under her bed when the other sister visits. That sister, Raimunda (played wonderfully by Penelope Cruz), has big issues to deal with in her past and even bigger issues that face her in the present. Volver is about how these two sisters deal with their lives and the shocking discoveries that alters what they thought they knew.
The movie deals with some big issues and doesn’t take them lightly. At the same time, Almodovar makes his films enjoyable and you will smile and laugh often. Volver is a wonderful journey that you make along with the characters. It was one of the best films of 2006.
My Grade: A
Maturity is a relative term and Pedrom Almodovar has indeed matured as a filmmaker. It is apparent in his brilliant stretch of films beginning with 1999’s All About My Mother and continuing with Talk to Her, Bad Education, and now Volver. Bad Education is a very good movie. The other three films are superb. There is more humanity and seriousness in Almodovar’s recent work. These films do not seek to shock you but instead lead you to compassion. The work is quieter, though as in maturity and seriousness, these are relative terms. Only compared to his earlier work would you think to call Almodovar quiet. He is still a bold and vivid storyteller but his focus is on the thoughts and struggles inside people.
Volver follows two sisters and looks at how they are dealing with what their lives have brought them. They had very different relationships with their mother, who they lost in a fire a few years ago. Sole (a terrific Lola Duenas) hears voices in her trunk and discovers what she assumes to be the ghost of her dead mother, who she takes in, cleans up, and puts to work in her hair salon. I am so willing to follow Almodovar anywhere that I didn’t even blink at the possibility of the smelly ghost of an old woman coming into her daughter’s home and hiding under her bed when the other sister visits. That sister, Raimunda (played wonderfully by Penelope Cruz), has big issues to deal with in her past and even bigger issues that face her in the present. Volver is about how these two sisters deal with their lives and the shocking discoveries that alters what they thought they knew.
The movie deals with some big issues and doesn’t take them lightly. At the same time, Almodovar makes his films enjoyable and you will smile and laugh often. Volver is a wonderful journey that you make along with the characters. It was one of the best films of 2006.
My Grade: A
posted by Keith Allison at 5:43 PM
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