Volver (2006)

After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.

Director:

Pedro Almodóvar

Writer:

Pedro Almodóvar (screenplay)

Stars:

Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 61 wins & 90 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Penélope Cruz	...	Raimunda
Carmen Maura	...	Irene
Lola Dueñas	...	Sole
Blanca Portillo	...	Agustina
Yohana Cobo	...	Paula
Chus Lampreave	...	Tía Paula
Antonio de la Torre	...	Paco
Carlos Blanco	...	Emilio
María Isabel Díaz	...	Regina (as Mª Isabel Díaz)
Neus Sanz	...	Inés
Leandro Rivera	...	Auxiliar Producción
Pepa Aniorte	...	Vecina
Yolanda Ramos	...	Presentadora TV
Elvira Cuadrupani	...	Vecina
María Alfonsa Rosso	...	Vecina (as Alfonsa Rosso)

Storyline

Raimunda, her daughter Paula and her sister Sole travel from Madrid to the windy and superstitious village of Alcanfor de las Infantas to visit the grave of their mother Irene, who died years ago in a fire with her husband. Then they visit Irene's sister Paula, an old senile aunt that raised Raimunda after the death of her parents that insists to tell them that Irene is alive and living with her; later, they go to the house of her neighbor and friend Agustina, who gives a support to Paula. They return to Madrid, and after a hard day of work, Raimunda meets her daughter completely distraught at the bus stop waiting for her. When they arrive home, Paula tells her mother that she killed her unemployed father Paco, who was completely drunk and tried to rape her. While Raimunda hides his body, Sole calls her to tell that their beloved aunt Paula has died. The next morning, Sole travels alone to the funeral, and when she returns to Madrid, she finds her mother hidden in the trunk of her car...

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Plot Keywords:

rape | death | secret | abusive father | child abuse | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Spain] Official site [Italy]

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

26 January 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Return

Filming Locations:

Almagro, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

€7,450,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€1,783,597 (Spain), 17 March 2006, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$197,703, 5 November 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$12,899,867, 24 May 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$85,585,147, 4 May 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+ España,El Deseo,Ministerio de Cultura

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First movie of Pedro Almodóvar and Carmen Maura together in 18 years. Their friendship broke after shooting Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988).

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Goofs

(at around 1h 30 mins) When Agustina is talking on the TV show about her mother's vanishing, she says that it happened "hace ya casi cuatro años" ("nearly four years ago"), yet her lips are clearly saying "hace ya casi tres años" ("nearly three years ago").

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Quotes

Sole: Mom?
Irene: Hum?
Sole: There's something you want me to do, isn't?
Irene: Cut my hair.
Sole: I mean if there's something you couldn't do alive and doesn't let you rest.
Irene: There are always things undone. Or bad done. And my life has been no exception. Look, I don't know if I can fix them, but if I can, it's up to me to do it.
Sole: [after a long silence] Customers will arrive soon. What are we going to do?
Irene: We attend to them. I'll help you.
Sole: But I can't introduce you as my mother. They all know I'm an orphan.
Irene: Then I'll pretend to ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

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Soundtracks

La rosa del azafrán (Las espigadoras)
Written by Jacinto Guerrero (as Jacinto Guerrero Torres), Federico Romero (as Federico Romero y Saragacha), Guillermo Fernández Shaw (as Guillermo Fernández-Shaw Iturralde)
SGAE
Performed by Conchita Panadés
(p)1962 EMI Music Spain, S.A.

User Reviews

The story of 3 generations of women and their struggle to survive wind, fire and death

This is simple story about 3 generations of women: the grandmother Irene(Carmen Maura), her daughters Raimunda (Penélope Cruz)and Sole (Lola Dueñas) and her granddaughter Paula(Yohana Cobo). It takes place mainly in Madrid, in a neighbourhood where various ethnic groups and people from the different provinces of Spain live, people who went to Madrid looking for a better tomorrow. Raimunda, Sole and Paula have to go back to their home town to praise the dead and meet one of their aunts, Tia Paula (Chus Lampreave). Soon the old aunt dies and unleashes a serious of mysterious events, their dead mother re-appears to settle some unresolved issues with her daughters and with her neighbour, Augustina (Blanca Portillo), revealing a past until then unknown. This is movie about the Spanish culture, homesickness, the culture of the death and the struggle of 4 women with strong character and strong personality traits to survive wind, fire and death. It is extremely well produced and has great photography as well as an unmatchable soundtrack. It is a very nice movie, filled with laughter and emotions and with a beautiful simplicity . If you are waiting for a Hollywood romance, a Hollywood comedy or a twisting complex plot, this might not be what you are looking for.