Cheap Volver [Region 99] (DVD) (Pedro Almodóvar) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of Volver [Region 99]

Mom's under the bed
I was set on avoiding this one. I admired Almodovar's past few movies but found them fairly dreary to sit through, and this sounded like more of the same, and the "celebration of mothers" as I had heard this one was--blech! But a friend of mine wanted to see it on Christmas Day, so whatever, I thought I could sit through it. And surprise, not only did I love it, it went straight to the top of my own personal Best of 2006 list. <
> <
>It's hard to describe the story, because it is so mundane and yet complicated at the same time. Penelope Cruz plays Raimunda, who has two daughters, one of whom is Paula, and a husband. At the beginning, she goes to see one of her aunts, the sister of her deceased mother. The girls don't want to see her, and certainly don't want to be close, and in these first few scenes there is a lot of comedy about the ritual of kissing both sides of the face; how uncomfortable it makes people who don't want to do it, and how ridiculous the whole thing is in the first place. <
> <
>Now I have to decide whether I want to reveal crucial plot points, but you know what, I don't. I think it's a lot better for you to see it and let it unfold on your own. <
> <
>Here are some observations, though. It's very well-written. There is a subplot involving Raimunda's daughter Paula that sets a lot of the action in motion, and later in the movie it is paralleled by a similar scenario that occurred in the past. One of them reflects and builds off the other. And there are a lot of parallels or contrasts like that in the script, and they all reflect and resonate with each other in a way that is very smart and literary. <
> <
>It's also sweet and sentimental without being cloying. One really likes the Raimunda character from the start, even when she is imposing on friends or being a little selfish. In fact, some of the most memorable little scenes involve her asking neighbors to give them the groceries out of their refrigerators, and how willing they are to do exactly that. There's a nice, warm and moving vibe to the whole thing that only grows more affecting and emotional as the film wears on. <
> <
>Cruz is a shot in such a way that is a little ludicrously glamorous [especially when she's working in a laundry or in the kitchen of a restaurant], but you forgive the movie for it because she is SO gorgeous. EVERYONE I know who has seen this movie says "Isn't Penelope Cruz gorgeous?" She is also complex and charming and delivers a wonderful performance--kind of a relief after seeing her poorly used in such things as Blow and Sahara. <
> <
>There is also a variety of characters and their worries, each of which is portrayed in a sympathetic way that gives you that good, "troubles are part of what life is all about" feeling. The main action of the movie concerns a meeting that comes close to happening on several occasions, and a lot of the pleasant tension is waiting for that meeting to happen. I also like that when it finally does, and one of the characters freaks out and runs away, she soon realizes what she wants and turns back, instead of making the film waste our time while she goes home and thinks about it and calls her friends and writes in her journal or whatever a more Americanized movie might have her do. <
> <
>I don't know what else to say. This, for me, was one of those movies where I was in love with it by 30 minutes in and it only kept getting better. It encompasses wonderful people and behavior and reprehensible people and behavior, but comes off with a warm and accepting vibe. I don't know, I keep finding myself stopping myself before using hideous professional-movie-critic language such as "humanistic vision," or whatnot, but this was something I was expecting to admire but be emotionally indifferent to, and I came out thinking it was one of the best things I had seen all year. If you like a movie that'll make you walk out happy, have a good and patient feeling about life, and show you a gorgeous woman [who sings a magical song, btw] you really should make an effort to get out to this.

beautiful
gorgeous film <
> <
>great acting <
> <
>penelope is great in the role and i love almodovar