History Film / Volver

''Volver'' is a 2006 film by Spanish director Creator/PedroAlmodovar starring Creator/PenelopeCruz and Carmen Maura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirty something living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.

For Raimunda, however, a crisis occurs when her husband, Paco, [[AttemptedRape attempts to rape]] their daughter, Paula, and she kills him in self defense. This sets in motion a chain of events that involves [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold prostitutes]] disposing of the body, Raimunda acquiring a restaurant, and Irene trying to find a way to resolve all the family issues she couldn't work through before her death.

* BittersweetEnding: Raimunda has taken a new business - a restaurant - after years of low-paid jobs [[spoiler: and has reconciled with her mother, but the police may one day question about her husband's disappereance and she has promised her daughter to tell her about their father one day, even if it'san AwfulTruth. Also Agustina is doomed to die of cancer.]]

* DueToTheDead: An interesting case. [[spoiler: Raimunda has to get rid of her murdered husband's corpse, and choose the forest near her hometown not only because it's out of the way, but also because it was his favourite place.]]

* ImprobablyFemaleCast: This is a family drama all centred in mother-daughter relationships, so it's kinda a given.

* PhoneaholicTeenager: Paula's almost always on her phone in the beginning of the movie.

* IllGirl: Agustina, who has cancer.

* BittersweetEnding: Raimunda has taken a new business - a restaurant - after years of low-paid jobs [[spoiler: and has reconciled with her mother, but the police may one day question about her husband's disappereance and she has promised her daughter to tell her about their father one day, unknowing that she's better off without this knowledge. Also Agustina is doomed to die of cancer.]]

* RapunzelHair: Paula's hair reaches her waist.

* {{Fauxreigner}}: [[spoiler: Irene]] passes herself for Sole's Russian help to cover her presence in Sole's house.

** Paula is twice remarked by other characters to have the same eyes of her grandfather, a seemingly innocuous observation. [[spoiler: Such resemblance is product of ParentalIncest.]]
* FriendlyGhost: Irene. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}} because she's still alive.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: At one point, there's a top-down shot that gives us a good view of Cruz' cleavage. [[FanDisservice When she's cleaning the knife used to murder Paco]].

** Aunt Paula, despite her utterly senile status, is quite healthy and she [[Through the eyes of madness owes it to her deceased sister, according to her]]. [[spoiler: She is right. Irene is alive and has taken care of her all these years.]]

* MamaBear: Raimunda - when she discovers Paco's dead body and Paula confesses she killed him, she immediately decides to take the blame and deal with the problem herself.

* {{Redemption Quest}}: [[spoiler: Irene, who eventually reveals to Raimunda she came to apologise for not spotting and stopping the abuse she suffered by her father.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Raimunda has taken a new business - a restaurant - after years of low-paid jobs [[spoiler: and has reconciled with her mother, but the police may one day question about her husband's disappereance and she has promised her daughter to tell her abou ther father one day, unknowing that she's better off without this knowledge. Also Augustina id doomed to die of cancer.]]

** Raimunda is shown washing a knife, [[spoiler: the one used to kill Paco.]]
* FriendlyGhost: Irene. [[spoiler: {{subverted}} because she's still alive.]]
* GenreShift: The film manages to cover several very different areas of moviemaking like dark comedy, road movie, family drama and satire (the TV show where Agustina appears). Oh, and did we mention that it ends with the kinda chilling [[TheReveal reveal]] [[spoiler: that young Paula is the result of incest]]?
* GuileHero: Raimunda manages to do lots of things (such as talking her neighbours into provide her things she need, obtaining the restaurant from Emilio, [[spoiler: successfully cover the murder of Paco]]) just lying and arguing her way out of troubles.

* RecurringCameraShot: Some of the most iconic shots are the Penélope Cruz boob shots. The first is at the start of the film, and she is cleaning off a kitchen knife in the sink. The next time, she's cleaning the knife again [[spoiler: but now of her husband's blood after her daughter/sister killed him]].

** Wind and windmills in a small town in [[''Literature/DonQuixote'' La Mancha]];

* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason: Augustine has this attitude about her mother's disappearance.

* AllMenArePerverts: When they are not outright [[spoiler: rapist]] monsters, they're at least ogling at (married) [[HelloNurse Raimunda]].

* Fauxreigner: [[spoiler: Irene]] passes herself for Sole's Russian help to cover her presence in Sole's house.

* GuileHero: Raimunda manages to do lots of things (such as talking her neighbours into provide her things she need, obtaining the restaurant from Emilio, [[spoiler:
successfully cover the murder of Paco]]) just lying and arguing her way out of troubles.

* UncannyVillage: Seems that in the town not only MenAreTheExpendableGender, but also there are some dark secrets too.

* AllMenArePerverts: When they are not outright [[spoiler: rapist]] monsters, they're at least ogling at (married) [[HelloNurse Raimunda]]

* GuileHero: Raimunda manages to do lots of things (such as talking her neighbours into provide her things she need, obtaining the restaurant from Emilio, [[spoiler: [[BreadMilkEggsSquick
successfully cover the murder of Paco]] ]]) just lying and arguing her way out of troubles.

* AllMenArePerverts

* BatmanInMyBasement

* ImprobablyFemaleCast

* NewAgeRetroHippie: Agustina.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Raimunda and Sole, respectively.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil
* UncannyVillage

''Volver'' (''Return'') is a 2006 film by Spanish director Creator/PedroAlmodovar starring Creator/PenelopeCruz and Carmen Maura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirty something living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.

* RapunzelHair: Paula's hair reaches her waist.

''Volver'' (eng. ''Return'') is a 2006 film by Spanish director Creator/PedroAlmodovar starring Creator/PenelopeCruz and Carmen Maura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirty something living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.

''Volver'' is a 2006 film by Spanish director Creator/PedroAlmodovar starring Creator/PenelopeCruz and Carmen Maura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirty something living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.

''Volver'' is a 2006 film by Spanish director Creator/PedroAlmodovar starring Creator/PenelopeCruz and Creator/CarmenMaura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirtysomething living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.

* ChekovsGunman: Aunt Paula's importance in the story becomes more obvious after she dies.

* IllGirl: Agustina.

* {{Redemption Quest}}

For Raimunda, however, a crisis occurs when her husband, Paco, [[AttemptedRape attempts to rape]] their daughter, Paula, and she kills him in self defense. This sets in motion a chain of events that involves [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold lesbian prostitutes]] disposing of the body, Raimunda acquiring a restaurant, and Irene trying to find a way to resolve all the family issues she couldn't work through before her death.

* [[spoiler: ScoobyDooHoax: Irene has been alive all along, hiding out with her sister.]]

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!! This work contains the following examples:

* DawsonCasting: Paula (Yohana Cobo) is fourteen or so, and ''really'' looks it, but the actress was around twenty when the movie was shot.

''Volver'' is a 2006 film by Spanish director PedroAlmodovar starring PenelopeCruz and Carmen Maura (the names are significant if you are at all aware of Spanish film for the past 30 years, or [[TheMuse their relationship]] with Almodovar). Cruz plays Raimunda, a thirtysomething living in Madrid. She and her sister Sole (short for Soledad, [[MeaningfulName "loneliness"]]) return to the village of their birth in La Mancha for their aunt's funeral. There are rumors that the ghost of the two sisters' mother, Irene (Maura), who died in a house fire alongside their father, haunts the village; a local woman, Agustina, claims she saw her with the aunt. Sole encounters Irene's ghost, who hides away in the trunk of her car. The ghost stays with her daughter, posing as [[TheIllegal an illegal immigrant]] working for Sole's salon.