Volver (R, 2006)

common sense media says

Penelope Cruz shines in mother-daughter tale.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this mature, subtitled Spanish film -- which deals with heavy topics like funerals, incest, and murder -- isn't likely to appeal to most kids. Though these issues are framed by wry comedy, they remain complex. There are repeated references to men's abusiveness, and one lascivious father figure's drunken advances lead a teenage girl to stab him to death (this all happens off screen, but she's plainly traumatized as she tearfully describes it). The result is a very bloody kitchen, which is shown from many camera angles. Efforts to hide the body are comedic but also underline the physical and emotional difficulty of the task. A mother returns as a "ghost," leading to discussions of past acts of violence (including a house being burned down). Language includes one "f--k."

Positive messages: The story concerns the murders of unfaithful or otherwise wayward men; the female characters support one another.
Violence: Violent death is a recurrent theme: At the film's start, widows tend their husbands' gravestones and discuss one man's death by burning in a fire; a girl murders the man she thinks is her father (off screen, but bloody body and floor are explicit); Raimunda spends the rest of the film trying to dispose of the body; her mother appears as a ghost; a friend dies of cancer; repeated discussions of incest/rape.
Sex: Frequent shots of voluptuous women (especially Cruz) in tight skirts, showing cleavage; a neighbor is a prostitute; Paco looks at his daughter's crotch when she sits in a chair in their living room; several references to incest; shot of daughter from Pedro's peeping point of view shows the side of her bare breast; girl hears a man moaning as he masturbates (one arm movement visible, but mostly off screen).
Language: One use of "f--k," plus some other language ("s--t," "ass," "hall," "p--sy"), all in subtitles.
Consumerism: Not applicable.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Agustina grows and smokes marijuana (it alleviates her pain from cancer); she rolls a joint on screen and offers pot to her guests); various characters drink beer, wine, and other drinks in social settings; a couple of background characters smoke cigarettes.

More on Volver

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about the film's treatment of trauma and reconciliation within families. How is the ghost a metaphor for the way that the past can haunt the present? How does the movie show that mothers and daughters have special bonds (especially in a town where the men tend to die before their wives)? How does Raimunda come to terms with her mother? Do you think the recurring color red is significant? How? The film's title means "return": What various kinds of returns do you see here? How do you think an American-made film might have handled a similar topic? How is this movie similar to and different from Pedro Almodóvar 's other films?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and her sister, Sole (Lola Dueñas), mourn their mother, Irene (Carmen Maura), who died years ago in a house fire. The separated Sole is still inclined to romance, while Raimunda -- married to the slovenly, lascivious Paco (Antonio de la Torre) -- is not. Paco soon suffers a bloody end for his abuses, and Raimundo explains his sudden absence as the result of an argument. Her efforts to dispose of the body form a darkly comic, antic little subplot, à la Hitchcock. At the same time, more funerals loom, first when Irene's aged sister Paula (Chus Lampreave) passes on, and again when longtime family friend, Agustina (Blanca Portillo), is hospitalized with cancer. When Agustina tells a story about a spirit who visits her the night Paula dies, the women believe her without question. The ghost turns out to be Irene, returned to make peace with Raimunda. Sole's belief in the ghost makes it acceptable for the rest of us. Irene's reappearance illustrates the extent of the women's community. At ease with one another, they understand limits and pleasure, and how to make the most of both. The women's traumas draw them together even as they create rifts.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
A lush, loving celebration of women's survival, Pedro Almodóvar's VOLVER, as its title suggests, is full of returns, of emotions and bodies, energies and dilemmas -- all of them women's. The most bracing, strange, and provocative aspect of Almodóvar's movie (aside from Cruz's much-remarked-upon magnificence) is its celebration of women's self-understanding.

Yes, men are brutal and slow, and yes, women tolerate them, even love them. But in the end, men are unimportant in the women's patient, purposeful, and proud survival.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Cast: Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, Penelope Cruz
Genre: Drama
Run time: 120 minutes
Theatrical release: November 3, 2006
DVD release: April 3, 2007
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: sexual content and language.

This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

 
Smart
I nice tale that I is fairly safe for for teens.

happinessisawa ...
teen, 17 years old
 
Volver
This is an amazing tale of love, forgivness and family, however there are some themes in this film that a pre-teen would not be ready for. It is not too bad however, there is some breif nudity (the side of a breast), a very bloody scene (shows a dead body with lots of blood surrounding him), a rape theme (including pedophilia and incest), pot smoking, one use of the f-word and the film is very emotional and depressing. It is a great film, but be careful when showing it to children.

person14
teen, 16 years old
 
Great Spanish Film
Very mysterious ghost story , that is well acted and sometimes quite creepy. One scene involving a teen girl explaining to her mother that her father tried to rape her was a little discomforting but good overall. Also the father is murdered and stuffed in a ice chest

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