VOLVER

VOLVER, a Gala presentation of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival®, is the latest film from acclaimed master filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (BAD EDUCATION, TALK TO HER). An entertaining and whimsical film about the power of motherhood and friendship, VOLVER has won numerous awards, including Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, DON’T MOVE, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER) lives in Madrid, where she works hard to support her teenaged daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo, ONLY HUMAN) and her couch-potato husband, Paco (Antonio de la Torre). When Raimunda discovers a shocked Paula after she has killed Paco in self-defense, Raimunda hides the corpse. Shortly afterwards, Raimunda’s sister Sole (Lola Dueñas, THE SEA INSIDE) reports seeing their dead mother, Irene (Carmen Maura, FREE ZONE, 800 BULLETS). Determined to address unresolved matters, Irene – who pretends to be a Russian immigrant and hides under the bed whenever anyone calls – has returned from the dead to confront her daughters… and to assist Sole in her hairdressing business.

Almodóvar’s use of the supernatural takes his filmmaking in a wondrous new direction. Casting is brilliant across the board, but it is Cruz – one of Almodóvar’s regular collaborators – who dominates the screen, delivering a powerfully engaging and believable performance. With VOLVER, Almodóvar deftly combines his quintessential cinematographic talents: hilarious comic realism, bucolic melodrama and the celebration of womanhood.

“… his most reflective, subdued, sometimes intense and often comic homecoming, [VOLVER] celebrates the pueblo and people that shaped Almodóvar’s imagination.”– Jonathan Holland, Variety