There is nothing as uncanny as to come back, after death, just to take care of your senile sister or to spend quality time with your daughters. Pedro Almodovar’s Volver just does not make this strange scenario seem natural but also emphasize that this should be normal. Though in the film none of the characters come back to life after dying but still the portrayal of Irene as a ghostly person seems natural. The film is set up in two settings: one is a Spanish town where the people are full of superstitions and the other is Madrid.
Penelope Cruz as Raimunda is the central character of the film; throughout the film we see many mysteries regarding her past life and childhood unfold. As the film is set in motion with the murder of Paco (Raimunda’s husband) by Paula (Raimunda’s daughter) when he tried to abuse Paula, later we get to see that this incident is not the first one in the family but it was like a cycle of incidents repeating, things returning (in Spanish volver means to return). Though it is clear that the dead people in the film are not returning but what returns is the burden of tragedy. Raimunda was abused by her father and got pregnant with Paula, which means that Paula is not only her daughter but also her sister. Raimunda and Sole both sisters loved their mother though Raimunda was mad at her for not noticing the things which have been happening in front of her eyes.
Almodovar in his film portrays a picture of womanhood, the strength of the bond that women share. The balance of power and forgiveness in women is tremendous. In one hand Irene stops bothering about the fact that her husband is having an affair with Agustina’s mother, but when she gets to know that he abused her daughter Raimunda she burns them both alive. We see this protective side of a mother in Raimunda as well. Raimunda does every possible thing to hide the fact that Paula murdered Paco and makes all the necessary doings to hide Paco’s body. Knowing that her husband’s dead body is in the fridge of the next room she manages to cook for an entire shooting crew of 30 people; if that is not powerful then what else is! Though she got Paula as a daughter not willingly but the love in her portion is never compromised.
Though I think that the main strength of this film is the portrayal of the strength and beauty of the bond that women share there are many other significant sides of this film. The very obvious one is the Hitchcockian technique which Almodovar uses to build tension. From the very first scene of the movie we start getting hints about the happenings that are going to unravel. Raimunda’s boasting about the fact that their mother died in the best way possible by dying in her husband’s arm later becomes comprehensible because of the hatred which has built up inside her. Other than that the focusing on the trunk of Sole’s car, Raimunda’s chopping knife, the exercise cycle in Aunt Paula’s house, Agustina’s reference of Paula having the same eyes as Raimunda’s father all these things are placed very smoothly; these hints never seem out of place or unnatural but later everything seems to fall in place. Except for one casual mention of Penelope Cruz’s big bosom and one unnecessary top shot which portrays her deep cleavage with the murder weapon the film seems fairly honest and to the point. As Roger Ebert puts it when mentioned that shot in an interview at Cannes Film Festival Almodovar nodded happily. “Yes, I am a gay man,” he said, “but I love breasts.” Well leaving out that one customization for personal taste I think Volver is a strong film with a quite strong making.