Two sisters deal with the reality of their dead mother’s reappearance in their lives through sightings, sounds, and the feeling of her presence which they cannot ignore in Volver, Classic Tuesdays pick for this month.
The National Gallery will screen Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver at Castellani House, Vlissengen Road next Tuesday, November 9 at 6 pm.
In Volver (translation to return or to come back), the pair of sisters grapple with what this means as they are also forced to come to terms with the pain and wounds of their past lives and personal histories. The National Gallery press release describes Volver as a family drama with sharp humour. The chill of the supernatural and elements of a whodunit are woven seamlessly together in this excellent story and screenplay by Almodóvar, it said.
Lynchpin of the story is the fiery sister Raimunda, played superbly by Penélope Cruz, mother of a teenage daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo). Cruz deservedly received several Best Actress nominations and awards, while Almodóvar received several awards and nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Foreign Language film. Significantly all six actresses playing the lead and supporting roles, including leading Spanish actress Carmen Maura as Irene, the returned mother, jointly received the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
Almodóvar’s film is shot in notably brilliant colour and with indoor and outdoor scenes reflecting timeless and contemporary rural and urban Spain, the press release said.
The film’s running time is 2 hours and admission is free.
