Volver (2006)
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.
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Before long, she's managed to launch a successful restaurant (as Crawford did in "Mildred Pierce") while protecting her daughter's self-esteem (a la Stanwyck in "Stella Dallas").
Also very present is the spirit of Joan Crawford in "Mildred Pierce," which lends the story its central predicament.
An ugly turn of events right out of "Mildred Pierce" involving her tough teenage daughter (Yohana Cobo ) turns fortuitous for her, and she winds up a proprietress of a little restaurant whose principal clientele is a 30-person film crew.
Pedro Almod�var is another auteur whose queer eye feasts on eruptions of womanhood, and in Volver, his new work, he name-checks his own cinematic duo (Mildred Pierce arcanely, Visconti's Bellissima explicitly).
The movie is being compared to Mildred Pierce, and it contains a several parallels, one of which involves Raimunda running a restaurant successfully on her own.
Cruz has said it's the role of her career, and she may be right: drawing heavily on the Sophia Loren of yore in stylizing her sumptuous beauty, both Loren in Two Women and Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce are Raimunda's indomitable predecessors.
If Almodóvar looked to Douglas Sirk in "All About My Mother" (although as a filmmaker, he's far wetter and more approachably rumpled than the crisp, buttoned-down Sirk), this time he's casting an eye toward Italian neorealism: "Volver" includes a clip from Luchino Visconti's "Bellissima," starring perhaps the most vital-looking actress of all time, Anna Magnani.
Yes, she's supposed to evoke the va - va-voom of the great European earth-goddesses (a clip of Anna Magnani on a bed in Visconti's "Bellissima" plays on TV), but the strategy is a little more personal for Cruz, too.
Pedro Almod�var is another auteur whose queer eye feasts on eruptions of womanhood, and in Volver, his new work, he name-checks his own cinematic duo (Mildred Pierce arcanely, Visconti's Bellissima explicitly).
In Volver, Mr. Almodóvar has taken great pains to turn her into a voluptuous firebrand, big as the screen can hold, with a makeover inspired by the extended eyeliner of Claudia Cardinale, the tumble-down hair and plumped-up cleavage of a young Sophia Loren, and Dustin Hoffman’s padded derriere in Tootsie.
Before long, she's managed to launch a successful restaurant (as Crawford did in "Mildred Pierce") while protecting her daughter's self-esteem (a la Stanwyck in "Stella Dallas").
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Cruz has said it's the role of her career, and she may be right: drawing heavily on the Sophia Loren of yore in stylizing her sumptuous beauty, both Loren in Two Women and Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce are Raimunda's indomitable predecessors.
The new movie is reminiscent of his work from two decades ago, especially "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," in which Maura played a frustrated working-class housewife and part-time cleaning woman who eventually kills her husband with a leg of ham.
Maura appeared in numerous early Almodóvar movies -- including "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" "Matador," "Law of Desire" and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" -- but the two haven't worked together for 18 years.
Raimunda is astonished to discover her daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo, "The 7th Day"), waiting for her at the bus stop, but turns immediately supportive and business-like when she finds out why - her husband, Paco (Antonio de la Torre, "The 7th Day"), had designs on her daughter who killed him in defense, leaving a bloody mess in mom's kitchen.
After telling stories of men in his last few films ("Bad Education," "Talk to Her"), Almodóvar here revels in the world of women, returning to the territory of "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "All About My Mother."
But before she can enjoy the fruits of the future, she must make peace with the past, which means finally learning the truth about her own mysterious mother, Irene, beautifully played by Carmen Maura, the memorably manic heroine of Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown."
With a string of masterworks stretching from Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown to All About My Mother and Talk to Her, Almodovar is a filmmaker worth following anywhere.
The Spanish writer/director has focused on women or transsexual men in most of his best films, from "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" to "Talk to Her."
Maura appeared in numerous early Almodóvar movies -- including "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" "Matador," "Law of Desire" and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" -- but the two haven't worked together for 18 years.
Carmen Maura, as the mother, reunites with Almodovar for the first time since "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" seventeen years ago, and we're as glad to see her as ghost-welcoming daughter.
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It reminds me a bit of Antonia's Line in how it presents the tone of a female community -- and Volver may actually feel more authentic and natural in this regard.
Maura appeared in numerous early Almodóvar movies -- including "What Have I Done to Deserve This?" "Matador," "Law of Desire" and "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" -- but the two haven't worked together for 18 years.