Volver
Encyclopedia
Volver is a 2006 Spanish dramatic comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar
. Headed by actress Penélope Cruz
, the film features an ensemble cast
starring Carmen Maura
, Lola Dueñas
, Blanca Portillo
, Yohana Cobo
, and Chus Lampreave
. Revolving around an eccentric family of women from a wind-swept region south of Madrid
, Cruz plays Raimunda, a working-class woman forced to go to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter Paula. To top off the family crisis, her mother Irene comes back from the dead
to tie up loose ends.
The plot originates in Almodóvar's earlier film The Flower of My Secret (1995), where it features as a novel which is rejected for publication but is stolen to form the screenplay of a film named The Freezer. Drawing inspiration from the Italian neorealism
of the late 1940s to early 1950s and the work of pioneering directors such as Federico Fellini
, Luchino Visconti
, and Pier Paolo Pasolini
, Volver addresses themes like sexual abuse
, loneliness
and death
, mixing the genres of farce
, tragedy
, melodrama
, and magic realism
. Set in the La Mancha
region, Almodovar's place of birth, the filmmaker cited his upbringing as a major influence on many aspects of the plot and the characters.
Volver was one of the films competing for the Palme d'Or
at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
. It eventually won two awards: Best Actress (shared by the six main actresses) and Best Screenplay
. The film's premiere was held on March 10, 2006, in Puertollano
, Spain
, where the filming had taken place. Penélope Cruz
was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Actress
, making her the second Spanish woman ever to be nominated in that category.
) and Soledad (Lola Dueñas
) are sisters who grew up in Alcanfor de las Infantas, a small village in La Mancha
, but now both live in Madrid
. Their parents died in a tragic fire three years prior to the beginning of the film. The events which occurred on the night of the fire are only gradually revealed, but are central to the plot.
Sole returns to the village for the funeral of her elderly Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave
). Aunt Paula's neighbour Agustina (Blanca Portillo
) confesses to Sole that she has heard Paula talking to the ghost of Sole's mother Irene (Carmen Maura
). Sole encounters the ghost herself, and when she returns to Madrid
, she discovers that the ghost has stowed away in the trunk of her car. Irene has brought luggage, intending to stay with her daughter for a while, and Sole, though frightened, agrees to let her mother stay with her: Sole operates a hair salon in her apartment, and Irene will assist her, posing as a Russian woman to hide her true identity. Sole tries to determine why her mother's ghost has returned to Earth, asking her if she left anything undone in her life. Irene says that she does have issues to resolve, relating to the questions of why Raimunda hates her and why she is afraid to reveal herself to Raimunda.
Meanwhile Raimunda and her daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo
) have a different death to cope with. Paula's father Paco (Antonio de la Torre) attempts to rape
her, claiming that he is not really her father, and Paula stabs him in self-defense. Raimunda quickly hides the corpse in the deep-freezer of a nearby unused restaurant. The owner of the restaurant building, Emilio (Carlos Blanco), is out of town and entrusted Raimunda with the keys so that she can show it to prospective tenants. When members of a film crew happen upon the restaurant, Raimunda strikes a deal to cater for them, and suddenly finds herself back in the restaurant business.
Raimunda reveals to Paula that Paco was not, in fact, her biological father, and promises to tell her the whole story at a later time. Agustina is diagnosed with cancer
and must go to Madrid for medical treatment. Raimunda visits her in the hospital. Agustina asks Raimunda if she has seen her mother's ghost. Agustina hopes that the ghost will be able to tell her about the fate of her own mother, who disappeared three years ago without a trace. Raimunda undertakes the task of disposing of Paco’s remains: she leaves Paula with Sole, rents a van and transports the freezer to a convenient spot by the river Júcar
, 180 kilometres away. While staying in Sole's apartment, Paula meets her grandmother's ghost and grows close to her. The next night, Agustina comes to the restaurant to renew her request to Raimunda to ask her mother’s ghost about her own mother's whereabouts. She reveals two startling secrets: that Raimunda's father and Agustina’s mother were having an affair and that Agustina's mother disappeared on the same day that Raimunda’s parents died.
Sole finally confesses to Raimunda that she has seen their mother's ghost and that the ghost is, in fact, watching television in the next room with Paula. Raimunda is confused, angry, and frightened, but Paula urges her to tell her the truth: is she really alive, and not a dead spirit? Irene admits that she did not, in fact, die in the fire, and reveals the whole truth. We learn that the reason for Raimunda and Irene's estrangement is that Raimunda's father sexually abused
her, resulting in the birth of Paula; thus Paula is Raimunda’s daughter and also her sister. Raimunda had been angry with her mother for never noticing and ending this abuse. Irene tells Raimunda that she had never understood Raimunda's anger and distance until her Aunt Paula told her about what her husband had done to her daughter, and Irene became furious with herself when she found out.
Irene explains that, due to her husband's abuse of Raimunda, she started the fire that killed him. The ashes that had been presumed to be Irene’s were, in fact, the ashes of Agustina's mother, the woman with whom Irene's husband was having an affair. After the fire, Irene wandered for several days in the countryside, until she decided that she wanted to turn herself in. But first, she wanted to say goodbye to her sister Paula, who had lost the ability to look after herself and with whom Irene had been living prior to setting the fire that killed her husband. Paula, who was living in the past due to her senility, welcomed Irene home as if nothing had happened, and Irene stayed, caring for her sister and expecting that the police would come soon to arrest her. Due to the superstitious and closed nature of the community, however, the police never came and the residents, who are accustomed to tales of the dead returning, explained the rare sightings of Irene as "un fantasma", a ghost.
The film ends with the family reunited at Aunt Paula’s house. Irene reveals her presence to Agustina, who believes Irene to be a ghost. Irene pledges to stay in the village and care for Agustina as her cancer worsens, saying to Raimunda that it was the least that she could do after killing Agustina's mother. In the last scene Raimunda visits her mother at Agustina's house. The two embrace and tell one another that they now have time to repair their relationship.
told him during the production of their 1995 film The Flower of My Secret, another film set in the La Mancha
region. The story revolved around a heartbroken Puerto Rican
man who opts to kill his mother-in-law in hopes of reuniting with his beloved wife, who left him and broke off contact, at her mother's funeral. Owning a restaurant, he leaves it in his neighbour’s care, when he is about to kill his victim. Fascinated by the story and its background, Almodóvar decided on incorporating elements of it into the screenplay of The Flower of My Secret, making it the plot of a movie-within-the-movie based on the main character's novel in the film. While working on the script for Volver, he would however settle on outlining the role of the neighbour Raimund, as the film's central character, while Emilio, the Puerto Rican, eventually became a supporting role only.
Almodóvar says of the story that “it is precisely about death...More than about death itself, the screenplay talks about the rich culture that surrounds death in the region of La Mancha
, where I was born. It is about the way (not tragic at all) in which various female characters, of different generations, deal with this culture.”
The total worldwide gross was estimated at $84,021,052.
As of January 22, 2007, the film had grossed $12,241,181 at the Spanish Box Office.
, and won the Best Screenplay
award as well as the award for Best Actress
— which was shared by the six stars of the film. In addition, the film received two nominations at the 2006 Golden Globes: Best Actress
for Penélope Cruz
as well as Best Foreign Language Film. Cruz also received Academy Award, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actress.
The film has received a Certified Fresh rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes
, scoring 91 percent on the site's "Tomatometer", as well as 91 percent from the users on the site.
General top ten
with lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera
is converted to flamenco
and is sung in the movie with the voice of Estrella Morente
and lip sync
ed by Penélope Cruz.
The dance tune playing at the party prior to Raimunda's lip syncing is called "Good Thing" by British three-piece indie-dance combo Saint Etienne
.
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero is a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer.Almodóvar is arguably the most successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. His films, marked by complex narratives, employ the codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular...
. Headed by actress Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
, the film features an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
starring Carmen Maura
Carmen Maura
Carmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
, Lola Dueñas
Lola Dueñas
Lola Dueñas is a Spanish actress.She is the daughter of Nicolás Dueñas and studied in the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona.- Selected filmography :*Los Abrazos Rotos...
, Blanca Portillo
Blanca Portillo
-Career:Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions before graduating in drama from the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramatico....
, Yohana Cobo
Yohana Cobo
Yohana Cobo is a Spanish film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Penélope Cruz's daughter in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver.-Films:* 2009 - Tramontana* 2006 - Arena en los bolsillos...
, and Chus Lampreave
Chus Lampreave
Chus Lampreave is a Spanish actress.She started in movies in 1958, but she became internationally known thanks to her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar, where she plays old ladies with maternal or pastoral traits.- Filmography :...
. Revolving around an eccentric family of women from a wind-swept region south of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Cruz plays Raimunda, a working-class woman forced to go to great lengths to protect her 14-year-old daughter Paula. To top off the family crisis, her mother Irene comes back from the dead
The Dead
The Dead may refer to:* The dead, those who have experienced death* 'The Dead' , by Rupert Brooke* "The Dead" , by James Joyce* The Dead , adapted from Joyce's story* James Joyce's The Dead, Broadway musical...
to tie up loose ends.
The plot originates in Almodóvar's earlier film The Flower of My Secret (1995), where it features as a novel which is rejected for publication but is stolen to form the screenplay of a film named The Freezer. Drawing inspiration from the Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors...
of the late 1940s to early 1950s and the work of pioneering directors such as Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
, Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
, and Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...
, Volver addresses themes like sexual abuse
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
, loneliness
Loneliness
Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience...
and death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, mixing the genres of farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
, tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
, melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
, and magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
. Set in the La Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
region, Almodovar's place of birth, the filmmaker cited his upbringing as a major influence on many aspects of the plot and the characters.
Volver was one of the films competing for the Palme d'Or
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival and is presented to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du...
at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival
2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
. It eventually won two awards: Best Actress (shared by the six main actresses) and Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
. The film's premiere was held on March 10, 2006, in Puertollano
Puertollano
Puertollano is an industrial city in province of Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It is situated on the AVE High Speed Train line linking Madrid and Seville . The city has a population of 51,842 .- Legend of the lie :...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where the filming had taken place. Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, making her the second Spanish woman ever to be nominated in that category.
Plot
Raimunda (Penélope CruzPenélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
) and Soledad (Lola Dueñas
Lola Dueñas
Lola Dueñas is a Spanish actress.She is the daughter of Nicolás Dueñas and studied in the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona.- Selected filmography :*Los Abrazos Rotos...
) are sisters who grew up in Alcanfor de las Infantas, a small village in La Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
, but now both live in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Their parents died in a tragic fire three years prior to the beginning of the film. The events which occurred on the night of the fire are only gradually revealed, but are central to the plot.
Sole returns to the village for the funeral of her elderly Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave
Chus Lampreave
Chus Lampreave is a Spanish actress.She started in movies in 1958, but she became internationally known thanks to her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar, where she plays old ladies with maternal or pastoral traits.- Filmography :...
). Aunt Paula's neighbour Agustina (Blanca Portillo
Blanca Portillo
-Career:Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions before graduating in drama from the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramatico....
) confesses to Sole that she has heard Paula talking to the ghost of Sole's mother Irene (Carmen Maura
Carmen Maura
Carmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
). Sole encounters the ghost herself, and when she returns to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, she discovers that the ghost has stowed away in the trunk of her car. Irene has brought luggage, intending to stay with her daughter for a while, and Sole, though frightened, agrees to let her mother stay with her: Sole operates a hair salon in her apartment, and Irene will assist her, posing as a Russian woman to hide her true identity. Sole tries to determine why her mother's ghost has returned to Earth, asking her if she left anything undone in her life. Irene says that she does have issues to resolve, relating to the questions of why Raimunda hates her and why she is afraid to reveal herself to Raimunda.
Meanwhile Raimunda and her daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo
Yohana Cobo
Yohana Cobo is a Spanish film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Penélope Cruz's daughter in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver.-Films:* 2009 - Tramontana* 2006 - Arena en los bolsillos...
) have a different death to cope with. Paula's father Paco (Antonio de la Torre) attempts to rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
her, claiming that he is not really her father, and Paula stabs him in self-defense. Raimunda quickly hides the corpse in the deep-freezer of a nearby unused restaurant. The owner of the restaurant building, Emilio (Carlos Blanco), is out of town and entrusted Raimunda with the keys so that she can show it to prospective tenants. When members of a film crew happen upon the restaurant, Raimunda strikes a deal to cater for them, and suddenly finds herself back in the restaurant business.
Raimunda reveals to Paula that Paco was not, in fact, her biological father, and promises to tell her the whole story at a later time. Agustina is diagnosed with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
and must go to Madrid for medical treatment. Raimunda visits her in the hospital. Agustina asks Raimunda if she has seen her mother's ghost. Agustina hopes that the ghost will be able to tell her about the fate of her own mother, who disappeared three years ago without a trace. Raimunda undertakes the task of disposing of Paco’s remains: she leaves Paula with Sole, rents a van and transports the freezer to a convenient spot by the river Júcar
Júcar
The Júcar or Xúquer is a river on the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. The river runs for approximately 509 km from its source at Ojuelos de Valdeminguete, on the eastern flank of the Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico...
, 180 kilometres away. While staying in Sole's apartment, Paula meets her grandmother's ghost and grows close to her. The next night, Agustina comes to the restaurant to renew her request to Raimunda to ask her mother’s ghost about her own mother's whereabouts. She reveals two startling secrets: that Raimunda's father and Agustina’s mother were having an affair and that Agustina's mother disappeared on the same day that Raimunda’s parents died.
Sole finally confesses to Raimunda that she has seen their mother's ghost and that the ghost is, in fact, watching television in the next room with Paula. Raimunda is confused, angry, and frightened, but Paula urges her to tell her the truth: is she really alive, and not a dead spirit? Irene admits that she did not, in fact, die in the fire, and reveals the whole truth. We learn that the reason for Raimunda and Irene's estrangement is that Raimunda's father sexually abused
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
her, resulting in the birth of Paula; thus Paula is Raimunda’s daughter and also her sister. Raimunda had been angry with her mother for never noticing and ending this abuse. Irene tells Raimunda that she had never understood Raimunda's anger and distance until her Aunt Paula told her about what her husband had done to her daughter, and Irene became furious with herself when she found out.
Irene explains that, due to her husband's abuse of Raimunda, she started the fire that killed him. The ashes that had been presumed to be Irene’s were, in fact, the ashes of Agustina's mother, the woman with whom Irene's husband was having an affair. After the fire, Irene wandered for several days in the countryside, until she decided that she wanted to turn herself in. But first, she wanted to say goodbye to her sister Paula, who had lost the ability to look after herself and with whom Irene had been living prior to setting the fire that killed her husband. Paula, who was living in the past due to her senility, welcomed Irene home as if nothing had happened, and Irene stayed, caring for her sister and expecting that the police would come soon to arrest her. Due to the superstitious and closed nature of the community, however, the police never came and the residents, who are accustomed to tales of the dead returning, explained the rare sightings of Irene as "un fantasma", a ghost.
The film ends with the family reunited at Aunt Paula’s house. Irene reveals her presence to Agustina, who believes Irene to be a ghost. Irene pledges to stay in the village and care for Agustina as her cancer worsens, saying to Raimunda that it was the least that she could do after killing Agustina's mother. In the last scene Raimunda visits her mother at Agustina's house. The two embrace and tell one another that they now have time to repair their relationship.
Origins
Volver was first developed by Pedro Almodóvar, based on a story actress Marisa ParedesMarisa Paredes
María Luisa Paredes Bartolomé, , better known in show business as Marisa Paredes, is a Spanish actress.-Biography:...
told him during the production of their 1995 film The Flower of My Secret, another film set in the La Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
region. The story revolved around a heartbroken Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
man who opts to kill his mother-in-law in hopes of reuniting with his beloved wife, who left him and broke off contact, at her mother's funeral. Owning a restaurant, he leaves it in his neighbour’s care, when he is about to kill his victim. Fascinated by the story and its background, Almodóvar decided on incorporating elements of it into the screenplay of The Flower of My Secret, making it the plot of a movie-within-the-movie based on the main character's novel in the film. While working on the script for Volver, he would however settle on outlining the role of the neighbour Raimund, as the film's central character, while Emilio, the Puerto Rican, eventually became a supporting role only.
Almodóvar says of the story that “it is precisely about death...More than about death itself, the screenplay talks about the rich culture that surrounds death in the region of La Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
, where I was born. It is about the way (not tragic at all) in which various female characters, of different generations, deal with this culture.”
Cast
- Penélope CruzPenélope CruzPenélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
as Raimunda, a feisty hard-working mother living in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
's suburbs. Cruz was the first reported to have landed one of the starring roles in Volver, having previously worked with Almodóvar on his films Live Flesh (1997) and All About My MotherAll About My MotherAll About My Mother is a 1999 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. The film deals with complex issues such as AIDS, transvestitism, faith, and existentialism....
(1999). In preparing for her role, the actress watched Italian neorealism filmsItalian neorealismItalian neorealism is a style of film characterized by stories set amongst the poor and working class, filmed on location, frequently using nonprofessional actors...
from the 1950s, many of them starring Sophia LorenSophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
and Claudia CardinaleClaudia CardinaleClaudia Cardinale is an Italian actress, and has appeared in some of the most prominent European films of the 1960s and 1970s. The majority of Cardinale's films have been either Italian or French...
, to study "the Italian maggiorate" that Almodóvar envisioned for her performance in the film. Cruz, who had to wear a prosthetic bottom while filming, noted the role of Raimunda as "the best gift an actress can get." - Carmen MauraCarmen MauraCarmen García Maura is a Spanish actress. In a career that has spanned six decades, Maura is best known for her collaborations with noted Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar.-Early life:...
as Irene, Raimunda's mother. Maura, the star of Almodóvar's debut Pepi, Luci, Bom (1980) and five additional films with the director, was the first to be cast in the film alongside Cruz. Her engagement marked her first collaboration with Almodóvar after a period of 18 years and a reported fallout during the production of Women on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownWomen on the Verge of a Nervous BreakdownWomen on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas...
(1989). Maura commented on the "borderlineBorderlineBorderline or border line may refer to:*Border-In film:*Borderline , a film starring Paul Robeson*Borderline , a film noir starring Fred MacMurray*Borderline , a film starring Charles Bronson...
character" of Irene as a "very complicated [role to play]." - Lola DueñasLola DueñasLola Dueñas is a Spanish actress.She is the daughter of Nicolás Dueñas and studied in the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona.- Selected filmography :*Los Abrazos Rotos...
as Soledad ("Sole") - Blanca PortilloBlanca Portillo-Career:Portillo started as an actress in several small theater productions before graduating in drama from the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramatico....
as Agustina - Yohana CoboYohana CoboYohana Cobo is a Spanish film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Penélope Cruz's daughter in Pedro Almodóvar's Volver.-Films:* 2009 - Tramontana* 2006 - Arena en los bolsillos...
as Paula - Chus LampreaveChus LampreaveChus Lampreave is a Spanish actress.She started in movies in 1958, but she became internationally known thanks to her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar, where she plays old ladies with maternal or pastoral traits.- Filmography :...
as Tía Paula - Antonio de la Torre as Paco
- María Isabel Díaz as Regina
- Carlos Blanco as Emilio
- Neus Sanz as Inés
Commercial performance
In the US alone, as of May 9, 2007, the film had made $12,897,993 (15.4% of total) in the box office, after 26.4 weeks of release in 689 theatres. The box office figure from the rest of the world is somewhere in the region of $71,123,059 (84.6% of total) according to the results of 'BoxOfficeMojo'.The total worldwide gross was estimated at $84,021,052.
As of January 22, 2007, the film had grossed $12,241,181 at the Spanish Box Office.
Critical reception
The film received rave reviews when it was released in Spain. Fotogramas, the country's top film magazine, gave it a five-star rating. It also received a standing ovation when it was screened as part of the official selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival2006 Cannes Film Festival
The 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
, and won the Best Screenplay
Best Screenplay Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Screenplay Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival...
award as well as the award for Best Actress
Best Actress Award (Cannes Film Festival)
The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of films at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.-Award Winners:-External links:* * ....
— which was shared by the six stars of the film. In addition, the film received two nominations at the 2006 Golden Globes: Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture - Drama was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a separate category in 1951...
for Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
as well as Best Foreign Language Film. Cruz also received Academy Award, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Best Actress.
The film has received a Certified Fresh rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, scoring 91 percent on the site's "Tomatometer", as well as 91 percent from the users on the site.
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006.- 2nd - Marjorie Baumgarten, The Austin Chronicle
- 3rd - Glenn Kenny, PremierePremiere (magazine)Premiere was an American and New York City-based film magazine published by Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., published between the years 1987 and 2007. The original version of the magazine, Première , was started in France in 1976 and is still being published there.-History:The magazine originally...
- 3rd - Kevin Crust, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- 3rd - Richard Corliss, TIME magazineTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
- 3rd - Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-GazetteArkansas Democrat-GazetteThe Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell...
- 4th - Andrew O'Hehir, SalonSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
- 4th - Peter Travers, Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
- 4th - Ray Bennett, The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterFormerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
- 5th - Desson Thomson, The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
- 6th - Claudia Puig, USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
- 6th - Scott Tobias, The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
- 7th - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- 8th - A.O. Scott, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- 8th - Keith Phipps, The A.V. ClubThe A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
- 8th - Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterFormerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
- 8th - Stephen Holden, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- 9th - Shawn Levy, The OregonianThe OregonianThe Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
- 10th - David Ansen, NewsweekNewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
- 10th - Lou Lumenick, New York PostNew York PostThe New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
General top ten
- Carina Chocano, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- Carrie Rickey, The Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia InquirerThe Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
- Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
- Liam Lacey and Rick Groen, The Globe and MailThe Globe and MailThe Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
Awards and nominations
- Academy Awards79th Academy AwardsThe 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...
(0/1):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- 2006 Cannes Film Festival2006 Cannes Film FestivalThe 2006 Cannes Film Festival ran from May 17, 2006 to May 28, 2006. Twenty films from eleven countries were in competition for the Palme d'Or. The President of the Official Jury was Wong Kar-wai, the first Chinese director to preside over the jury....
(2/2):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo and Chus Lampreave)
- Best Screenplay (Pedro Almodóvar)
- BAFTA Awards60th British Academy Film AwardsThe 60th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts took place on 11 February 2007, and honoured the best films of 2006....
(0/2):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Broadcast Film CriticsBroadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2006The 12th Annual Critics' Choice Awards were presented on 14 January 2007 by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to honor the finest achievements in 2006 filmmaking...
(0/2):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Chicago Film CriticsChicago Film Critics Association Awards 2006The 19th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 28, 2006 honored the best in film for 2006.-Best Actor:Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland*Leonardo DiCaprio – The Departed*Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson...
(0/2):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Foreign Language Film
- César Awards (0/1):
- Best Foreign Film
- Empire AwardsEmpire AwardsAn Empire Award is an accolade bestowed by Empire, Britain's biggest selling film magazine, to recognize excellence of professionals in the locale and global film industry. The awards are voted for by readers of the magazine and in an annual ceremony, the Empire Awards, the winners are presented...
(1/1):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- European Film Awards (4/6):
- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Cinematographer (José Luis Alcaine)
- Best Composer (Alberto Iglesias)
- Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Best Film
- Best Screenwriter (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Golden Globe Awards (0/2):
- Best Actress - Drama (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Foreign Language Film
- Goya AwardsGoya AwardsThe Goya Awards, known in Spanish as los Premios Goya, are Spain's main national film awards, considered by many in Spain, and internationally, to be the Spanish equivalent of the American Academy Awards....
(5/14):- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Best Film
- Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias)
- Best Supporting Actress (Carmen Maura)
- Best Cinematography (José Luis Alcaine)
- Best Costume Design (Sabine Daigeler)
- Best Make-Up and Hairstyles (Massimo Gattabrusi and Ana Lozano)
- Best Production Design (Salvador Parra)
- Best Production Supervision (Toni Novella)
- Best Screenplay - Original (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Best Sound
- Best Supporting Actress (Lola Dueñas)
- Best Supporting Actress (Blanca Portillo)
- National Board of ReviewNational Board of Review Awards 2006The 78th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2006, were given on 6 December 2006.-Top 10 films:#Letters from Iwo Jima #Babel#Blood Diamond#The Departed...
(1/1):- Best Foreign Language Film
- Satellite AwardsSatellite Awards 2006The 11th Satellite Awards, honoring the best in film- and televisionmaking in 2006, were given on 18 December 2006.-Best Actor - Drama: Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland*Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond*Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson...
(1/4):- Best Foreign Language Film
- Best Actress - Drama (Penélope Cruz)
- Best Director (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Best Screenplay - Original (Pedro Almodóvar)
- Screen Actors Guild (SAG) (0/1):
- Best Actress (Penélope Cruz)
- Vancouver Film CriticsVancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2006The 7th Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2006, were given on 9 January 2007.-International:*Best Actor:**Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland*Best Actress:**Helen Mirren - The Queen*Best Director:...
(1/1):- Best Foreign Language Film
Music
Tango Volver by Carlos GardelCarlos Gardel
Carlos Gardel was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. He was born in Toulouse, France, although he never acknowledged his birthplace publicly, and there are still claims of his birth in Uruguay. He lived in Argentina from the age of two...
with lyrics by Alfredo Le Pera
Alfredo Le Pera
Alfredo Le Pera was an Argentinian journalist, dramatist, and lyricist, best known for his brief but fruitful collaboration with the tango singer Carlos Gardel...
is converted to flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
and is sung in the movie with the voice of Estrella Morente
Estrella Morente
Estrella Morente is a Spanish flamenco singer. She was born on August 14, 1980 in Las Gabias, Granada Province in southern Spain...
and lip sync
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...
ed by Penélope Cruz.
The dance tune playing at the party prior to Raimunda's lip syncing is called "Good Thing" by British three-piece indie-dance combo Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne (band)
Saint Etienne are an English Pop group comprising Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs. They are named after the French football team AS Saint-Étienne.-History:Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs were childhood friends and former music journalists...
.