Volver (2006/I)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar (writer)

Release Date:

26 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Fire | Car | Secret | Bus

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 44 wins & 47 nominations

Cast

Penélope Cruz	...	Raimunda
Carmen Maura	...	Irene
Lola Dueñas	...	Sole
Blanca Portillo	...	Agustina
Yohana Cobo	...	Paula
Chus Lampreave	...	Tía Paula
Antonio de la Torre	...	Paco
Carlos Blanco	...	Emilio
María Isabel Díaz	...	Regina (as Isabel Díaz)
Neus Sanz	...	Inés (as Nieves Sanz Escobar)
Leandro Rivera	...	Auxiliar Producción
Yolanda Ramos	...	Presentadora TV
Carlos García Cambero	...	Carlos
Pepa Aniorte	...	Vecina
Elvira Cuadrupani	...	Vecina

Also Known As:

To Return (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated R some sexual content and language.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | Dolby

Certification:

USA:R | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Italy:T | Italy:VM14 | UK:15 | Argentina:16 | Ireland:15A | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:AL | Hong Kong:IIA | Sweden:11 | Spain:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Australia:M | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Peru:14 | Brazil:14

Filming Locations:

Almagro, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Company:

Canal+ España

Trivia:

Penélope Cruz became the first Spanish actress ever to be nominated for Best Lead Actress at the Oscars.

Quotes:

Raimunda: [to self] It smells of... farts, my mother's farts.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Volver

magnificent

A wonderful movie,a masterpiece. Whether or not it's the summit of the director's output so far will be a matter of taste, but it's definitely up there with Hable Con Ella and All About My Mother.

The story is dazzlingly well told. Even though it has the trappings of soap-operatic melodrama, sheer pace prevents any of the characters descending into self-pity. The emotional courage of these women (there are only four men with speaking parts in the entire movie, as far as I can remember, with not one of them being a major character) is what marks them out. Their complete involvement in life and, particularly in this film, death.

The photography is excellent. Beautiful shots suddenly throw an event into weird relief, such as the funeral cortège framed between the sides of a narrow street, or the landscape suddenly resonating poetically with the hypnotic turning of windmills.

The rhythmic editing is a trademark of Almodovar's. He's like a great jazz musician. Talking of which, his use of and sensitivity to music is another of his defining characteristics, and the score here, highly reminiscent of the same composer's work on Hable Con Ella, is again wonderfully melodic and romantic, matching the inner fire of the superb actors.

Penelope Cruz lights up the screen. As others have remarked, her performance seems to be something of an homage to Sophia Loren - but Cruz is her own woman: she dazzles in a to-die-for role. However, this is far from being a star-plus-the-rest movie: the entire cast is in every way up to the mark, not least the great Maura, who herself seems to be invoking another Italian cinematic icon - Giulietta Massina.

Unmissable.