Along with "El Laberinto del fauno" and "Babel", Volver (2006)- written and directed by Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar tale of family ties, hidden secrets, deaths, and forgiveness is a disappointment for me. One of the most praised and showered with the awards films from last year, "Volver", is IMO dull, non-compelling, and often laughable when supposed to be sweet, moving, and dramatic. I see what Almodovar was trying to do in "Volver". It is his own "Amarcord", his tribute and loving dedication to the women in his life, his admiration for mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts; for eternal femininity as a driving force of life, for women's love, strengths, understanding, and their complicated but caring relationships. "Volver" is above all about the closest, the most tender and most complex relationship two women may have, that of a mother and her daughter, and how far a mother would go to protect her child, her girl who is always a little girl for her no matter how old she is, and how much a mother would regret and blame herself for not having noticed things that would ruin her child's life and forever alter in the most devastating ways the child's love and trust for her mother.
In "Volver" ("To Return" in English), a mother (Irene, played by Carmen Maura) comes from dead to resolve the problems and to settle the affairs she could not finish during her life and by doing so, she would repair and re-vitalize her relationship with her daughters (Penélope Cruz, in an Oscar-nominated performance, and Lola Dueñas in an understated, subtly humorous performance) and her teenage granddaughter (Yohana Cobo, Cruz's daughter).
"Volver" is also the writer/director's love letter to the Italian films of 50th and 60th with the great stars Anna Magniani and Sophia Lauren shining as strong earthy beautiful and sensual women - mothers. It is for that reason, in one of the scenes of "Volver", Irene watches on TV an old movie, "Bellissima" (1951) directed by Luchino Visconti with Anna Magnani as a mother who desperately tries to make her little girl's life better than hers. It is also for the same reason, Penelope Cruz had to put on few pounds for her Raimunda and to use a prosthetic device that artificially enhanced her rear end and widened her hips which along with her huge dark eyes and voluptuous sex appeal made her look like Sophia Loren's of the "Two Women" (1960 ) re-incarnation. I am gladly joining the legion of viewers for whom Cruz was a revelation in her third Almodovar's film. She's never looked more stunning and I am sure that she is a much better actress in Spanish films where she is natural, confidant, comfortable, and commands the screen. "Volver" has been her best achievement s o far. Her Oscar nomination is well deserved as the Cannes Best Actress award to the female ensemble cast is. All performances in "Volver" are above average and deserve the praise.
As for the movie itself, I think Almodovar went too far in his idolizing and idealizing women and depicting all males in the movie as no good, cheating, and abusive evil presence. His verdict for them - they don't deserve to live. Not only that, the men in "Volver" don't even deserve their mysterious disappearances and/or suspicious deaths be investigated properly because nobody seem to care, and the least - Pedro Almodovar. He is too busy to photograph the women kissing each other so often that it becomes irritating and annoying.
While watching the film, another famous European director, no less ambitious with the distinguished style, came to my mind - Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Almodovar has been often compared to Fassbinder because of similar for both directors' approach in creating iconoclastic films with elements of gay and counter culture incorporated into mainstream genres; the films that masterfully combine violence and sensuality, sentimental melodrama and soap opera with dark comedy, and the ambitious use of prime colors. Both directors have made wonderful movies about women. While Fassbinder was able to show his admiration for but never idealization of women, Almodovar was not fully successful in his latest film due to the story which is inconclusive, non-logical, often implausible, and more than often simply non-involving with many plot lines never been resolved, many questions never been answered, and with the ending, abrupt like in the middle of the conversation
In "Volver" ("To Return" in English), a mother (Irene, played by Carmen Maura) comes from dead to resolve the problems and to settle the affairs she could not finish during her life and by doing so, she would repair and re-vitalize her relationship with her daughters (Penélope Cruz, in an Oscar-nominated performance, and Lola Dueñas in an understated, subtly humorous performance) and her teenage granddaughter (Yohana Cobo, Cruz's daughter).
"Volver" is also the writer/director's love letter to the Italian films of 50th and 60th with the great stars Anna Magniani and Sophia Lauren shining as strong earthy beautiful and sensual women - mothers. It is for that reason, in one of the scenes of "Volver", Irene watches on TV an old movie, "Bellissima" (1951) directed by Luchino Visconti with Anna Magnani as a mother who desperately tries to make her little girl's life better than hers. It is also for the same reason, Penelope Cruz had to put on few pounds for her Raimunda and to use a prosthetic device that artificially enhanced her rear end and widened her hips which along with her huge dark eyes and voluptuous sex appeal made her look like Sophia Loren's of the "Two Women" (1960 ) re-incarnation. I am gladly joining the legion of viewers for whom Cruz was a revelation in her third Almodovar's film. She's never looked more stunning and I am sure that she is a much better actress in Spanish films where she is natural, confidant, comfortable, and commands the screen. "Volver" has been her best achievement s o far. Her Oscar nomination is well deserved as the Cannes Best Actress award to the female ensemble cast is. All performances in "Volver" are above average and deserve the praise.
As for the movie itself, I think Almodovar went too far in his idolizing and idealizing women and depicting all males in the movie as no good, cheating, and abusive evil presence. His verdict for them - they don't deserve to live. Not only that, the men in "Volver" don't even deserve their mysterious disappearances and/or suspicious deaths be investigated properly because nobody seem to care, and the least - Pedro Almodovar. He is too busy to photograph the women kissing each other so often that it becomes irritating and annoying.
While watching the film, another famous European director, no less ambitious with the distinguished style, came to my mind - Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Almodovar has been often compared to Fassbinder because of similar for both directors' approach in creating iconoclastic films with elements of gay and counter culture incorporated into mainstream genres; the films that masterfully combine violence and sensuality, sentimental melodrama and soap opera with dark comedy, and the ambitious use of prime colors. Both directors have made wonderful movies about women. While Fassbinder was able to show his admiration for but never idealization of women, Almodovar was not fully successful in his latest film due to the story which is inconclusive, non-logical, often implausible, and more than often simply non-involving with many plot lines never been resolved, many questions never been answered, and with the ending, abrupt like in the middle of the conversation