Volver (2007)

Release Date:
26 Jan 2007 (USA)

Director:
Pedro Almodóvar

Writers:
Pedro Almodóvar

Cast:
Penélope Cruz (Raimunda)
Lola Dueñes (Sole)
Carmen Maura (Irene)
Blanca Portillo (Agustina)
Yohana Cobo (Paula)
Chus Lampreave (Tía Paula)

IMDb link:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441909/

Stephen:
4
(viewed 1 Feb 2008) Having come to expect a little more intensity or wisdom from Señor Almodóvar, I was largely disappointed with this film. It is not bad, but merely falls a little flat, I think. The basic story is actually somewhat interesting, with a family mystery that is eventually explained satisfactorily. But along the way we see two events that lead to three deaths – young Paula’s killing (in self-defense) of her father who tried to rape her, and Irene’s murder of her husband and lover years before. Both of these killings remain undiscovered and unpunished (unless Aunt Irene’s being invisibly cloistered with the invalid, Aunt Paula, may be considered a punishment).

Lynne:
3
(viewed 1 Feb 2008) You can’t have a pulse and not love Penelope Cruz. Somewhere in the movie I thought I saw flashes of the sumptuous Eat Drink Man Woman and at other times flashes of a triumphant woman pulling her self up from the ashes. In the end, however, the flashes amounted to less than nothing when the purposeful deletion of human beings goes unnoticed even by those who would delete them. Happy go lucky sister also performed well.

Action Items:
None.