Volver (2006)

I am as big a fan of Spanish director Pedro Almodovar as anyone and have seen all of his films; I therefore suprised myself by not reacting more positively to this, his latest.  Or maybe all the hype has taken its toll.  He and lots of others have been pushing Penelope Cruz as a latter-day Sophia Loren, an unstoppable force of nature -- hence her Academy Award nomination, which having now seen the movie, I am rather pleased that she did not win.  I must confess to a certain difficulty with this actress.  All of her Spanish-speaking roles have been infinitely superior to the crap/pap roles she has taken in Hollywood and she does have some talent as an actress; however I have always found her looks disturbing, something about the way her nose seems to touch the top of her upper lip -- and superior cleavage doesn't make her any the more attractive to me.  But Pedro loves her, so let's just accept that.

If one approaches this movie as I think it should be approached as an ensemble effort rather than a Cruz starrer, then the film does work as a very superior women's picture.  From the opening shots of the women of La Mancha tidying the graves of their departed menfolk, through the contributions of the various actresses, both old and young, to the action -- the men here are completely irrelevant -- one is left with a satisfying confection on the ways that women support each other practically and emotionally.  If there is in fact one standout actress in the cast, then my money would be on Carmen Maura, reunited with Almodovar after an 18-year break.  She plays the purportedly long-dead mother of Cruz and her plain sister who has returned (this is the meaning of "volver") to help her family as is best needed.  All in all, an interesting addition to Almodovar's canon, but not I think necessarily amongst his top few, but so much better than much of what is shown.