Dir: Pedro Almodavar
Starring: Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo
Spain 2006. 121 mins. Spanish with English subtitles

Volver, translated in English as “coming back”, sees director Pedro Almodavar thematically meld love story, kitchen–sink melodrama and ghost story to the most sumptuous ends. In a film exploring the intricacies, emotions and implications of ‘coming back’, Almodavar returns to his birthplace, the windswept plains of La Mancha, to tell the story of three generations of women coping with family tragedy, loss and grief beneath the bustle of everyday life.

Raimunda (Penelope Cruz), married with a teenage daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo), and her sister Soledad (Lola Duenas), busily circulate amongst their friends, neighbours and relatives. The opening scene sees the sisters cleaning the graves of their parents, killed in a fire. Such references to traditional memorial customs and rituals reminds us of the closeness of the film’s dearly departed – a sense of passing realised as the sisters visit their Aunt Paula, sadly suffering the final stages of dementia. A shocking turn of events means Raimunda and Paula must pull together to maintain the face of family normality. Meanwhile Irene (Carmen Maura), Raimunda and Soledad’s mother, appears from beyond the grave to the sensitive Soledad. Almodavar’s style nods towards Hitchcock, Spanish soap operas and even touches of farce as the sisters strive to keep their secrets hidden. Moving between the kitsch and colourful interiors of an illegal hair salon, a warmly spirited restaurant and sweetly detailed homes, Volver appears visually dream–like: the whole is a complete treat for the eyes. Much of the narrative is wound around Irene’s returning presence, and Almodavar manages to make the many contrivances of the plot as acceptable and compelling as the world the characters move within.

Whilst Volver is undoubtedly a love story, this love radiates from and amongst the endearing female characters. What men there are in the film exist as catalysts and in back stories, and seem almost irrelevant within the unfolding action. Cruz gives a stunning and generous performance as the hardworking and blithe Riamunda. She wiggles her pencil skirted self around screen: Hollywood siren-in–a–pinny, all warm exuberance and practical sexiness. But Volver is most definitely an ensemble piece. Its strength comes from all the cast’s ability to convey a lifetime of closeness and shared histories with a look, a pout or a shrug. The effects of the characters actions across three generations is handled with poignancy and emotional honesty that is always tender, occasionally tear–jerking and often warmly funny. Volver is full of delicacy, vitality and energy. A superb addition to Almodavar’s canon.

by Elinor Pearson