Anyone familiar with Pedro Almodóvar’s masterpiece Todo Sobre mi Madre will already know this, but if you haven’t (shame on you) prepare yourself for a bit of a shock; Penélope Cruz can act. Brilliantly. Banish all the painful memories of Vanilla Sky, the forthcoming Bandidas (probably) and that godawful Mandolin bollocks from your mind. This is the forerunner of next year’s Oscar nominations for Best Actress, or it would be, if it weren’t in subtitled Spanish, which as far as the Academy are concerned might as well be Martian. But she is THAT good; her character Raimunda exudes repressed agony while struggling to be a good mother, the useless husband proving to be the least of her worries.
Many will tell you that since All About My Mother Almodóvar has failed to replicate such scintillating form; others will tell you that his career’s been on the skids (this is bollocks, it’s just trendy to say his earlier stuff like Live Flesh is better than Bad Education; they’re both great). But these buffoons will feel vindicated by the number of comparisons between Volver and his career peak; themes of distance and reconciliation, maternal conflict, primary colours on rampant display, the aforementioned stonking performance by Cruz, this time proving she can carry a film. But somehow, despite the trademark visual flourishes leaving you in no doubt whose world you’re in, Big Gay Pedro has created a completely different movie.
Now I’ve got the film student I Love Foreign Movies crap out of the way, here’s what’s good. Whilst returning to familiar ground, as with Bad Education Almodóvar is here to be found experimenting with different styles of film, notably moments of sub-Hitchcockian suspense, thanks to an impressive score. The primary colours are on parade once again, although as jealousy and suspicion cloud the early going green replaces yellow, with red and blue prominent at pertinent moments; the Spanish Auteur remains a master of character framing and grouping. Nothing is wasted, and there’s a spectacular visual moment with fans and mumbling where everyone becomes bumblebees. Which reminds me, the humour’s there. Occasional it may be, but you will snigger at the very least.
Special mention has to go to Lola Dueñas as Raimunda’s sister Soledad, dealing with the grief over the death of their parents single-handedly when the ghost of her mother appears to return, ostensibly to set right that which was unfinished in life (similarities to The Crow are made up). Herein lies the movie’s carefully unravelled thread, a trickle building to a stream which leads to a blindingly obvious twist; but the director has learnt from the painfully drawn-out conclusion of Bad Education and wraps matters up quickly, all the pain beautifully underplayed by Cruz and the excellent Carmen Maura.
Unmistakeably Almodóvar in tone, it’s hard to find fault with Volver (I could tell you what the title means but it’s better that you find out). The entire female cast listed above picked up the award for Best Actress at Cannes 2006, and it’s thoroughly satisfying to see the director in such rich form. Four stars because it’s great, but not AS great as we know Almodóvar is capable of. If only films got stars and awards for showing Penélope Cruz taking a piss. And in case you’re wondering, yes, she’s still sexy even when she’s on the bog. Told you she was good.