If in Bad Education we see the past haunting characters metaphorically, Volver sees Almodóvar returning to comedy with Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and her sister Sole literally haunted by a very alive ghost. With Volver (meaning ‘return’ in Spanish), Almodóvar returns to his home region of Castille (central Spain), works with long-time collaborator Carmen Maura (of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) after a nearly 20-year rift, and shows how digging into past personal traumas (child abuse) can be explored in a lighter way without sacrificing dramatic tension.

This optimistic film about reconciliation, maternal love and the absent father critiques the persistence of patriarchal structures in Spain and uses repeated intergenerational sexual violence as symptomatic of the persistence of Franco’s ideological regime well into the democratic era.

Film Studies: Looking back at Pedro Almodóvar, Pedro Almodóvar looking back

Four film screenings and four lectures exploring the development and influences of the oeuvre of Spain’s best-known film director: Pedro Almodóvar. This programme will be delivered by Dr Ana María Sánchez-Arce (Associate Professor, Sheffield Hallam University).

View the full Film Studies course here

Director Pedro Almodóvar
Year 2006
Duration 2h 1m
Language Spanish with English subtitles
Cast Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas