VOLVER... no spoilers

Must say although this week has been rough, the two little patches of social life I've had have been wonderful. The opportunity of seeing two Oscar nominated movies (worthy of a nomination) almost back to back is rare on this forsaken corner of Florida. I must thank Doc too, for playing the wonderful boss part and getting us tickets for VOLVER at the Tampa Theater. This is one of those classy places circa 1926 with an elaborate stage and a pipe organist that entertains with Hollywood classics right before the feature. Please feel free to browse, although I think the site doesn't do justice to the place: http://www.tampatheater.org/

Now to the movie and this whole Penelope Cruz buzz...

I must confess I had lost my faith in Penelope Cruz as an actress. I sort of remembered her being good, but there has been too many movies done in awful English... to many hang outs with Hayek, too many tabloids and that dreadful thing called Bandidas at sale in Walmart for $9.99. I'll get to her later... one thing I must confess is that I looked forward to this movie because I haven't lost my faith in Spanish cinema or in Pedro Almodovar.
Almodovar's latest is a nice layer cake and he knows how to deliver, a bit of nostalgia, a bit of comedic relief, an emotional punch, a dash of social satire, lots of good things about being human, like love and life and blood that is thicker than water and a twist on the supernatural that is somehow familiar to all with a bit of Spain in their blood... most important he does what he does best. I am sorry ladies, but there is no female director alive that could dissect the female psyche as easily and as certain as Almodovar. He loves his women, an knows how to work them.

No spoilers, but minor details ahead:

• The setting: The film divides it self between Madrid and La Mancha. The first being a thriving city, the second being a small town forgotten but by those who ever read a very long book about a crazy guy with impossible dreams to attain. The windmills are now white rows extending as far as the eye can see; the wind is the same. The Eastern wind flows through the town in a constant stream. There is a little legend that will justify a lot of things... a wind like that could drive men mad and women, well women are made of something else altogether. The women of La Mancha are a tight group, a special breed. They are loving, but nature had turned them hard, they seem to be fearless, resolved and given to keep secrets. Most important, they never leave anything unresolved.

This is the first of many layers in this movie, an it proves the clever title serves it right. The first "Volver" is about visiting places you thought you wanted to leave in the first place. In this case Raimunda (Cruz) returns to her hometown and faces her past. This "return" has a broad appeal, anyone that has ever lived in a small town has this feeling. Returning to the place that saw you as a child is always a little thrilling, a little sad. For a brief moment we think about how wonderful it was until we reach the conclusion that we will never return, which is shortly followed by jumping in on the next plane train or automobile out of there.

• There is something other about the women of La Mancha... they are not so fortunate in love, but they manage. In a place where financial/physical independence is unheard of and loneliness is across to bear even when you are surrounded by people, a woman will hold to her man, sometimes will be blinded by love. Love, sorry, to say this to the romantics, should never be blind, which leads to the second "return".

This is a more serious, even more engaging aspect than the first layer. This is the one that tells us to be careful with our choices, not only with our lives, but with the lives of those entrusted to us, after all a person (as well as a place) cannot move forward until the things they leave behind are resolved. It is a tale of mothers and daughters and how in a given moment, every daughter must face the role their mother had in shaping her, how much is there of someone else in you. It's about a mother's love and careless abandonment and how much are you willing to go for someone you love, how much are you willing to give up or go back to a place that makes you feel uncomfortable for a loved one.

• One other thing about the women of La Mancha is that they don't say much. When they open their mouths, though, it carries meaning, it touches, sometimes tears the soul.

I will not say much about the third return of this movie because it will give away the plot, no matter how I work to conceal it, but this is the "return" that made me believe in Penelope Cruz as an actress again... she is Raimunda and there is something that Almodovar was able to work off Cruz that no Hollywood director has even come close to... she is empowered. Penelope has never stricken me as beautiful (I know there are thousands who will disagree) but Raimunda is not about beauty, she is about sensuality. Mind you, not the cheap one obtained with heavy makeup and strategically placed (or removed) pieces of cloth. It's a natural, raw energy that flows out of her, that makes the wrong kind of guy want her and the right kind of guy respect her, almost fear her.

She is determined as no character ever conceived for her has been. Her determination comes out of the realization that she is alone, and she has to make it, not only for her personal satisfaction, but because her daughter deserves something better. Oh, yes she is (Gasp!) a mother of a (double Gasp!) 14 year old child- who would have thought. One of the many "returns" of this movie, the one that she makes her own is marked by a song, that shares it name with the film. When she sings, you know there is something coming, something unexpected, the song becomes the character and the character binds the story together, we follow her voice into a resolution. As far as I go, it made me shed a tear before I even knew what I shed it for. That is the sure sign of a worthy performance.

Does she deserve a nomination...hell yes! I still have to catch up with the other ladies, but so far this is Almodovar's most heartfelt and Penelope's finest.

Today's quote... will be a stanza from Raimunda's song, which I feel should have never been subtitled, because a lot of it was lost in translation. This song was made famous by Gardel and as my grandmother (big Carlito's fan) used to say may you never sing this song with a reason

"Volver,con la frente marchita

las nieves del tiempo

platearon mi sien.

Sentir que es un soplo la vida

que veinte años no es nada

que febril la mirada

errante en las sombraste busca y te nombra.

Vivircon el alma aferrada

a un dulce recuerdo

que lloro otra vez"

Volver Lyrics by Carlos Gardel