Volver

Volver means „to return“ – and with this film Pedro Almodóvar returns to the La Mancha region of his childhood. It's a land where the winds often blow strong and spread fires. One of them killed the parents of Raimunda and Sole, sisters of different temperament but similar fates. The more dramatic one is experienced by the energetic and beautiful Raimunda, determined to defend her teenage daughter at all costs and used to supporting not only her but also her unemployed husband. She carries a terrible secret that only her mother knows about. But she is dead and appears only as a ghost. But Raimunda, unlike her sister, does not believe in ghosts. Volver is also the song Raimunda sings when the inn where she used to cook for the film crew is celebrating its end of the year, and no one but her knows what is hidden in the giant fridge.

Volver is a story of survival: all the female characters in the film are trying to survive, and Pedro Almodóvar admires their courage, manifested in situations both tragic and comic, grotesque and poignant. The Palme d'Or, which everyone wished Almodóvar well at Cannes, missed him again: the screenplay and the performance of all five female leads, among whom Penélope Cruz and Carmen Maura stand out. The film went on to win five European Film Awards and earned Penélope Cruz her first Oscar nomination. On 41th KVIFF Volver was accompanied by actress Yohana Cobo.