Volver

Volver is a dark-comedy gem from master auteur Pedro Almodovar. It deals with life, death, and family, (some of Almovodar's usual topics) in an intelligent and unusual way. Occasionally subtle, and occasionally not, Volver is an excellent, character-centric film.

The Spanish word "volver" translates to "return," or "revert." The film makes significant thematic use of the concept behind the word. The film begins with Raimunda (Penelope Cruz), her sister, Sole (Lola Duenas), and Raimunda's teenage daughter, Paula (Yohanna Cobo) visiting the grave of the older womens' mother in a small Spanish town. When they return home, events conspire to leave Paula fatherless, Raimunda with a restaurant, and, later, Sole with a live-in ghost. Terminal cancer and confused paternity also make guest appearances. The plot would be perfect for a daytime soap opera. But, under Almodovar's expert touch, character development takes priority while the plot's cliches find themselves undermined and modified to fit the writer-director's unique sense of humor. Events that would normally be hammed up on daytime TV find themselves played for laughs. Even with all the black comedy, the film retains significant emotional impact.

Penelope Cruz gives an excellent performance. That's not to disparage the rest of the film's acting, which is great all around, but Cruz's is worth mentioning, if only because the English-speaking part of her career has been less than stellar. In Volver, the audience can feel the stress and anxiety that lie beneath Raimunda's facade. She plays a character who pretends to be strong, but doesn't realize she doesn't need to pretend. Every level of that character is visible in Cruz's performance.

Volver's cinematic style is very playful. Almodovar seems to have opted for a kind of Classical Hollywood style, but he seems to purposefully overplay it. For example, several times the camera goes beyond the normal levels of the cinematic male gaze and the camera rests on a woman's body for an inordinate amount of time. Normally, the male gaze is found in the subtext of the editing and cinematography, but Almodovar seems to revel in it. It is almost as if he is purposefully putting things into his film for film students to write about. Ironically, Almodovar is gay, which provides further evidence that this emphasis on the female body as a sex object is filmic playfulness. Roger Ebert has also quoted him as saying "Yes I am a gay man, but I love breasts."

In conclusion, Volver is a cut above most other films out today. It uses what could be called a "trite" plot in a way that emphasizes character and manipulates that plot into a shape that is both affecting and comical. Both playful and serious, Volver is not to be missed.
pedro almodovar