Volver – the film

Have you seen the Spanish film Volver?

The movie begins in a cemetery in La Mancha . The cemetery is full of women tending their family graves on a windswept day. The beautiful Raimunda (Penelope Cruz), is cleaning the grave of her mother and father, who died together four years earlier in a house fire. Her 14-year-old daughter, Paula, and divorced elder sister, Sole, who runs an illegal hairdressing salon in Madrid, accompany her. Sole has encountered the ghost of her dead mother who is staying in her spare bedroom.

The following day Paula stabs her stepfather to death in defence of his sexual advances. Raimunda covers up. When a movie crew needs somewhere to eat while on location, Raimunda opens a restaurant

The film is a black comedy and about women working together as friends, sisters, mothers and neighbours.

Is it just me, or do you agree that Spanish films always seem to be dark, gritty tales about the seedier side of life and most contain some form of nudity! Do you think this is a cultural thing, or a leftover from the repressions of Franco’s days? I would love to hear your views. Leave your comment on my blog, or our SLS Spanish Club at www.spanishlanguagesite.com.