Volver

Score: 7/10

Recommendation: Rent it

Summary: A film that rises above just being a well acted Spanish soap opera but falling just short of reaching complete excellence.

Review:

I find it difficult to write reviews on foreign films, especially films from countries I know little about. Fortunately, I have lived in Mexico for a few years and hablo the espanol, allowing me to watch the film in its original Spanish and had experienced many Latin customs that Mexico has taken from Spain. But Mexico is not Spain! This image should make my point. So when critiquing this film, I may have missed some context that would have changed my opinion. But without further ado, let's talk about Volver.

Volver (2006) is a mystery/drama film by acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar starring Penelope Cruz. Almodovar is one of the most celebrated Spanish directors and has won academy awards among other prestige. Volver follows the relationship between a mother and her daughter and sister. After Raimunda's husband is killed in an attempt to rape her daughter, she hides the body to protect her daughter. Meanwhile Raimunda's mother tries to enter back into her life once again.

I don't want to give everything away and the story is rather complex so that's as well as I can sum up the plot. In fact, that summary is much more than I knew going into the film and I was surprised continuously with the direction the film was going. It isn't what you expect, trust me. I found myself interested in the mystery throughout the film even though there are some complaints I have, I'll put them in a spoiler section below. Most of the complaints just have to do with a few extraneous plot elements that are pretty much ignored even though they seem pretty major at the time. The film takes on a difficult subject matter including murder, incest, and death but mostly in a way that makes sense. It disturbs you, but is not graphic or gory. It should disturb someone though, the point of the film is the damage that incest and murder cause in people/family's lives.

One of the most important aspects to look out for during Volver is the production design. It is pretty cool how well the vivid outfits and characters separate themselves from the dull background. Almodovar is famous for using blues to represent everything Franco loved (industry, masculinity, Rigid Christian church, tradition etc) and blues to represent what Franco repressed (creativity, femininity, etc). In later films green began emerging, representing the rebirth of Spain after Franco's influence started fading. Pay particular attention to the colors, because they are awesome.

Music is again hard to judge, since I am pretty unfamiliar with Spanish flamenco but I would recommend the song Volver song by Penelope Cruz as the standout track. It is also given emphasis in the film.

I found Volver an interesting film with a good mystery and important (although disturbing) themes. I would recommend seeing this film as a rental. I didn't love it enough to buy it but I think it is worth a watch especially for fans of foreign films. I give Volver 7 little glass freezer shaped figurines out of 10.

Now go...

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Then SPOILER WARNING!!!!

I just wanted to explain my complaints a little more specifically without ruining the mystery of the film for those who haven't seen it. My biggest complaints are these. 1. The interaction between Sole and her mother when her mother reappears. She never even asks why her mother disappeared for years! Or how she did it. It seems out of character because in other parts of the film Sole often speaks her mind even when it isn't the right thing to say. Yet she just accepts the reemergence of her mother without any complaint. 2. The murder of the husband is pretty excessively easy to get away with. After the body is buried, they may as well have never killed him for how often it effects the plot. Seems like someone should have at least ALMOST figured out the murder. They sure weren't very secretive when carrying a body through the city.

Is it nitpicking? Maybe. But it took me out of the film because I felt like murder was a little underplayed.