Following the passing away of their mother in a fire, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, VANILLA SKY) and Sole (Lola Duenas, TALK TO HER), leave their home town of La Mancha to live in... more
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Actor(s): Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portilla
Director(s): Pedro Almodovar
Genre: Drama
Classification: 15 years and over
Production Year: 2006
Consumer Advice: Contains moderate sex references and violence
Video Category: World Cinema Feature Film
Country Of Origin: Spain
Plot: Raimunda is trying to keep her family together despite her husband's inability to keep down a job. When a terrible incident occurs at home, Raimunda covers it up in order to protect her daughter, Paula. Meanwhile, Raimunda's sister Sole believes that their mother, Irene, has come back from the dead.
Release details
DVD Region: Region 2 (Europe)
Studio(s): PATHE DISTRIBUTION; 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Languages
Main Language: Spanish
Subtitle Language: English
DVD Description
Following the passing away of their mother in a fire, Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, VANILLA SKY) and Sole (Lola Duenas, TALK TO HER), leave their home town of La Mancha to live in Madrid. Raimunda lives with her daughter and unsupportive husband, taking on menial jobs, while Sole works in secret as a hairdresser. The only member of their family to remain in La Mancha is their Aunt Paula, who speaks of their deceased mum as if she were alive. The sisters also visit their friend Augustina, who remains devastated by the death of the mother. When Paula dies, the situation changes and the sisters find themselves communicating with their apparently deceased mother. Pedro Almodovar directs this mysterious and suspenseful film with panache and Penelope Cruz--with the enhancement of a prosthetic backside--shines in a sparkling performance.
Advantages: amazing film, another almodovar classic Disadvantages: none in particular, unless you prefer english language films
...Volver (To Return) is the most recent film by Spain’s most well known and successful film director, Pedro Almodovar. I am a fan of almost all of Almodovar’s films, and even decided to do my A Level Spanish oral presentation on his life and films. I did my exam about him today, and so I decided that now would be a good time to review my favourite of his many films.
*Synopsis*
Volver is the story of the women in a small family living in Spain in the present day, both in the capital city Madrid, and in a village in Castilla la Mancha. The story starts with sisters Raimunda and Sole, and Raimunda’s daughter Paula, scrubbing their mother’s grave, who died only a few years ago along with their father in a house fire. Not long after this, their Aunt Paula dies, and after attending the funeral Sole finds the ghost of her mother...
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Advantages: Perfectly directed with exceptional talented women Disadvantages: None except that you are encourage to watch it again
...I WATCHED THIS FILM late last year in a widescreen at Queens Film Theatre (Belfast). Every year, the theatre holds a film festival that feature selected international productions like from Romania, France, USA, Australia, Norway Canada and Spain. I do love movies and if there is an opportunity to attend these film festivals, I will really fix my schedule to make sure that I could watch all the films featured in the festival. So after reading the film guide flyer and without any hesitation, I decided to settle with 'Volver' - a Spanish production and Penelope Cruz in the cast which Cruz was nominated in this year's Oscar award for best actress. Frankly, I don't have any idea about the Spanish director and the rest of the cast, except for Penelope whom I had a crush on her since I have seen her first Hollywood starring role. The last time...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...Having decided we were going to the cinema, my boyfriend and I were faced with a long list of films we didn't want to see - it was the last week of the school summer holidays and the cinema was definitely catering for children. I knew Volver starred Penelope Cruz, of whom I'm not particularly a fan, but that was about the limit; nevertheless it seemed the best of a bad lot and so we went to see it. It was probably the best decision I made in a long time - this film is original and totally engrossing - Penelope Cruz has certainly gone up in my estimation.
The story
Sisters Raimunda and Sole lost their parents a while ago in a fire, so they are surprised when their aunt Paula claim that she appears before her on a regular basis. Thinking she is senile, they don't take much notice. After all, Raimunda has much more pressing things...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
16.05.2007
21.03.2007
