Within / Without

We saw Volver (Return) last night. The only other Pedro Almodóvar I’ve seen is Todo Sobre Mi Madre (All about my Mother.)

In a post made some months back I’d said something about liking Spanish movies. It’s safe to say that my fascination for them continues. I suppose I am also biased towards movies that explore relationships women have with the world and others. A very refreshing thing about this movie was how the camera doesn’t appear to have a “male” gaze. You know what I mean. Most movies have this irritating camera work where women become further objectified by the camera (even if held by a woman) . This particular movie appears to have a wonderful way of looking at women the way other women do. A comfortable gaze that doesn’t feel like it’s intruding into a living space.

How do you talk of three generations of women, without falling into the syrupy traps of nomenclature or flashback? How do you evoke the tragedy of misplaced trust without getting all messed up in the notions of pity? Volver has this wonderful way of making you laugh at the most tense of moments. It’s not a comedy of errors. It’s the irony of a certain situation. Or the sheer truth of it.

The story revolves around the revelation that the mother of two sisters isn’t dead. The return of the mother in their lives is accepted in a strange way by one of the sisters, who takes her in and tells the world that her mother is a Russian hairdresser helping her out. The mother, who is mistaken for a ghost in the village re-establishes her relationship with her two daughters and her grand-daughter. Somewhere in between the husband of one of the sisters is killed and his body needs to be disposed of. Such wonderful expressions. Fluid body language. The movie is so airy, with so much space. And killer reactions. Please go watch. I wish I could find that bit when one of the sisters sings Volver, but for now this trailer will have to do. Ensoi.

Posted on August 26th, 2006 by Neha Viswanathan
Filed under: Music, Film and Art