Volver (2006)
Comedy, Drama |
Volver is a Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Headed by actress Penélope Cruz, the film features an ensemble cast also starring Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, and Chus Lampreave. Revolving around an eccentric family of women from a wind-swept region south of Madrid, Cruz plays Raimunda, a working-class woman forced to go to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter Paula. To top off the family crisis, her mother Irene comes back from the dead to tie up loose ends.
The plot originates in Almodóvar’s earlier film The Flower of My Secret (1995), where it features as a novel which is rejected for publication but is stolen to form the screenplay of a film named The Freezer. Drawing inspiration from the Italian neorealism of the late 1940s to early 1950s and the work of pioneering directors such as Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, Volver addresses themes like sexual abuse, loneliness and death, mixing the genres of farce, tragedy, melodrama, and magic realism. Set in the La Mancha region, Almodóvar’s place of birth, the filmmaker cited his upbringing as a major influence on many aspects of the plot and the characters.
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas) are sisters who grew up in Alcanfor de las Infantas, a small village in La Mancha, but now both live in Madrid. Their parents had died in a fire three years before.
Sole returns for the funeral of her elderly, dementia-stricken Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave). Aunt Paula’s neighbour Agustina (Blanca Portillo) confesses to Sole that she has heard Paula talking to the ghost of their mother Irene (Carmen Maura). Sole encounters the ghost herself, and when she returns to Madrid, she discovers that the ghost has stowed away in the trunk of her car. Sole agrees to let Irene stay with her: Sole operates a hair salon in her apartment, and Irene will assist her. Irene says that she wants to know why Raimunda hates her, and why she herself is afraid to reveal herself to Raimunda.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar (screenplay)
Stars: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre
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 Lago | … | Regina (as Mª Isabel Díaz) |
| Neus Sanz | … | Inés |
| Leandro Rivera | … | Auxiliar Producción |
| Pepa Aniorte | … | Vecina |
| Yolanda Ramos | … | Presentadora TV |
| Elvira Cuadrupani | … | Vecina |
| María Alfonsa Rosso | … | Vecina (as Alfonsa Rosso) |
| Fanny de Castro | … | Vecina |
| Eli Iranzo | … | Vecina |
| Carlos García Cambero | … | Carlos |
| Magdalena Brotto | … | Vecina (as Magdalena Broto) |
| Isabel Ayúcar | … | Vecina |
| Concha Galán | … | Vecina |
| Mari Franç Torres | … | Vecina |
| Natalia Roig | … | Vecina |
| Agustín Almodóvar | … | Empleado ferretería (uncredited) |
| Mila Espiga | … | Vecina (uncredited) |
| Luis Lattanzi | … | Hungry second camera assistant (uncredited) |
| Valeria Vereau | … | Make-up Artist (uncredited) |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia