Return (Volver)Spain
2006, 110min.
 Script./Dir.: Pedro Almodóvar, Dir. of Phot.: José Luis Alcaine, Compos.: Alberto Iglesias, Sound: Miguel Rejas, Edit.: José Salcedo, Prod.: Augustín Almodóvar.
Cast: Penelope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Blanca Portillo.
Three generations of women survive easterly wind, fire, madness, superstition and even death through goodness, lies and an unlimited vitality. They are: Raimunda, married to an unemployed worker, and her teenager daughter. Sole, her sister, who earns her living as hairdresser. And their mother, who perished in fire, with her husband. This character comes as an apparition first to her sister and then to Sole, even though the ones she had unsettled affairs with were Raimunda and her village neighbour, Agustina. The film is not a surreal comedy, though it might seem so at times. The living and the dead live together without problems, but provoking hilarious situations and others full of deep and genuine emotion.
Awards
Best Actress (Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave - To the female ensemble cast), Best Screenplay, Cannes IFF, 2006. | Almodóvar, Pedro Pedro Almodóvar
Born 1949, Calzada de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.
The most internationally acclaimed Spanish filmmaker since Luis Buñuel arrived in Madrid in 1968, and survived by selling used items in the flea market called El Rastro. Almodóvar couldn't study filmmaking because he didn't have the money to afford it. Besides, the filmmaking schools were closed in early 70s by Franco's government. Instead, he found a job in the Spanish phone company and saved his salary to buy a Super 8 camera. From 1972 to 1978, he devoted himself to making short films with the help of his friends. The "premieres" of those early films were famous in the rapidly growing world of the Spanish counter-culture. In a few years, Almodóvar became a star of "La Movida", the pop cultural movement of the late 70s Madrid. His first feature film, Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón was made in 16 mm and blown-up to 35 mm for public release. In 1987, he and his brother Agustín Almodóvar established their own production company: El Deseo, S. A. The "Almodóvar phenomenon" has spread all over the world, making his films very popular in many countries.
Filmography
Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (Pepi, Luci, Bom y otras chicas del montón, 1980), Labyrinth of Passion (Laberinto de pasiones, 1982), Dark Habits (Entre tinieblas,1983), What Have I Done to Deserve This? (¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!!,1984), Matador (1986), Law of Desire (La Ley del deseo, 1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios,1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (¡Átame!, 1990), High Heels (Tacones lejanos,1991), Kika (1993), The Flower of My Secret (La Flor de mi secreto, 1995), Live Flesh (Carne trémula,1997), All about My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre, 1999), Talk to Her (Hable con ella, 2002), Bad Education (La Mala educación, 2004), Return (Volver, 2006).
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