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VOLVER

by Pedro Almodóvar

Starring:
Penelope Cruz as Raimunda
Carmen Maura as Abuela Irene  Raimunda’s mother
Lola Duenas as Sole  Raimunda’s sister
Blanca Portilla as Agustina  family friend
Yohana Cobo as Paula  Raimunda’s daughter
Chus Lampreave as aunt Tia
M. Isabel Diaz as Regina

 

 

Penelope Cruz y Pedro Almodovar

Volver film cover

 

Scene from VOLVER

SYNOPSIS

The story is set in contemporary Madrid. Raimunda is an attractive and enterprising young mum with an unemployed husband, Paco, and an adolescent daughter. The finances of the family are very tight so Raimunda has various jobs.  She is a very strong woman, a born fighter, but sometimes very emotionally fragile.  Since her childhood she has kept a terrible secret regarding her father, which is revealed during the film.  Her sister Sole is a littler older. Her husband left her and since then has lived on her own.

One Sunday in spring, Sole calls Raimunda to tell her that aunt has died. Raimunda adored her aunt but cannot go to the funeral because just moments before receiving her sister’s call, Raimunda finds her husband dead in the kitchen with a knife lodged in his chest.  Her daughter confesses that she has killed him because her father, whilst drunk, has persistently sexually harassed her. 

Reluctantly Sole travels to the village alone for the funeral of her aunt. Amongst the women who attend the funeral she hears rumours that her mother – who died in a fire with her father years ago – had returned from the other world in order to care for her infirm aunt Paula in her remaining years.  The neighbours talk openly of the ghost of her mother.  When Sole returns to Madrid, she hears a noise coming from the trunk while she parks her car.  She opens it and finds the ghost of her mother, surrounded by bags.  But is this figure really a ghost or are further secrets to be revealed?  

Regarding the other sister, Raimunda lies to Sole about the death of Paco, saying that her husband has left her with no intention of returning.  In reality, she has buried the body.  

The untenable becomes the day-to-day, as the two sisters embark on an escape to the future, surviving tense situations, melodramas, the comical and the emotional.  Both women survive through pure nerve and lies.  ‘Volver’ is a story of survival.  All the characters fight to survive, including the ‘ghost’ of the mother.

 

SINOPSIS

La historia se desarrolla en Madrid contemporánea.  Raimunda es una joven hermosa y emprendadora con un marido parado y una hija adolescente.  Las finanzas de la familia son muy ajustadas así que Raimunda tiene algunos trabajos distintos.  Es una mujer muy fuerte, nacida una luchadora, pero a la vez muy frágil de manera emocional.  Desde su infancia ha guardado un secreto terrible en cuanto a su padre; un secreto que se revela durante la película.  Su hermana mayor Sole vive sola desde que se fue su marido.

Un domingo en primavera, Sole llama a Raimunda para decirle que su tia Paula ha muerto. A Raimunda le encanta su tia pero no puede ir al entierro porque momentos antes de recibir la llamada de su hermana, Raimunda encontró a su marido muerte en la cocina con un cuchillo en su pecho.  Su hija confesa que le ha matado porque su padre, mientas que era borracho, la ha acosado sexualmente de manera continua.

De mala gana, Sole viaja al pueblo sola para el entierro de su tía.  Entre las mujeres que assisten al entierro, oye rumores que su madre – quien murió en un incendio con su padre hace muchos años – había vuelto del otro mundo para cuidar a su enferma tia Paula en sus últimos años.  Los vecinos hablan abiertamente de la fantasma de su madre.  Cuando Sole vuelva a Madrid, oye un ruido que viene de la maleta mientrás que aparca el coche.  La abre y encuentra la fantasma de su madre, entre las bolsas.  No obstante, ¿es esta figura una fantasma o se va a descubrir más secretos?

En cuanto a la otra hermana, Raimundo miente a Sole sobre la muerte de Paco, diciendo que su marido le ha dejado sin intención de volver.  En realidad ha enterrado el cuerpo de su marido. 

El increíble viene a ser lo que pasa día por día, mientrás las dos hermanas embarcan en un fuga al futuro, sobreviviendo situaciones tensas, melodramas, lo cómico y lo sentimental.  Ambas mujeres sobreviven por puro valor y mentiras.  ‘Volver’ es una historia de la supervivencia.  Todas las caracteres luchan para sobrevivir, incluída la fantasma de la madre.

THEMES

- Death

- Survival

- Returning

- Family

- Motherhood

- Strong female characters

 

 

TEMÁTICAS

- La muerte

- La supervivencia

- Volver

- La familia

- La maternidad

- Mujeres fuertes

RELATED LITERATURE TO VOLVER AND ALMODOVAR

1) Almodovar on Almodovar by Frederic Strauss, 2006

2) Pedro Almodovar (World Directors Series) by Ernesto R. Acevedo-Munoz, 2007

3) Almodovar: The Labyrinths of Passion by Gwynne Edwards, 2001

4) Desire Unlimited: The Cinema of Pedro Almodovar (Critical Studies in Latin American & Iberian Cultures) by Paul Julian Smith, 2000

5) A Spanish Labyrinth: The Films of Pedro Almodovar by Mark Allinson, 2001

6) Pedro Almodovar Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) by Paula Willoquet, 2004

7) Pedro Almodovar y El Kitsch Espanol (Intelectuales) by Carlos Polimeni, 2001

8) Pedro Almodovar (Signo E Imagen) by Antonio Holguin, 1999

9) Post-Franco, Postmodern: Films of Pedro Almodovar (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture) by Kathleen Vernon and Barbara Morris, 1995

10) Pedro Almodovar by Jean Max Mejean, 2007

11) Pedro Almodovar (Critical Guides to Spanish and Latin American Texts and Films) by Ann Davies, 2007

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