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Three generations of women survive the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition and even
death by means of goodness, lies and boundless vitality.
They are Raimunda (Pénelope Cruz), who is married to an unemployed labourer and
has a teenage daughter (Yohana Cobo); Sole (Lola Dueñas), her sister, who makes a
living as a hairdresser; and the mother of both (Carmen Maura), who died in a fire
along with her husband. This character appears first to her sister (Chus Lampreave)
and then to Sole, although the people with whom she has some unresolved matters are
Raimunda and her neighbour in the village, Agustina (Blanca Portillo).
VOLVER is not a surrealistic comedy although it may seem so at times. The living and
the dead coexist without any discord, causing situations that are either hilarious or filled
with a deep, genuine emotion. It’s a film about the culture of death in my native La
Mancha. The people there practice it with an admirable naturalness. The way in which
the dead continue to be present in their lives, the richness and humanity of their rites
mean that the dead never die.
VOLVER destroys all the clichés about “black” Spain and offers a Spain that is as real
as it is the opposite. A Spain that is white, spontaneous, funny, intrepid, supportive and
fair.
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