VOLVER, Pedro Almodovar, 2006. Subtitled. Cert 15

Penelope Cruz stars as Raimunda in this touching, funny drama with elements of the thriller. She has something of Sophia Loren about her; she is always watchable, her huge dark eyes glisten with tears and her smile is riveting. The film opens with a visit to her demented aunt and Cruz plays the lynchpin of a family of women, worried for Aunt Paula, concerned for her anxious sister Sole, and is mother to 14 year old Paula. She plays a strong character, yet teeters about in the tightest skirts imaginable, low cut tops and impossibly high heels. Raimunda's husband is an unappealing slob but he doesn't distract from the female-centred drama for long.

Raimunda works as a cleaner and the family are poor. An unexpected opportunity occurs for her to make some money by re-opening a closed restaurant, next door to her apartment, for a month to cater for a film crew working nearby. This brings in outsiders to the small village, adds life and colour to the film, and prevents the claustrophobia which could stifle an otherwise incestuous parochial story.

The sisters' dead mother re-appears to Sole to clear up unfinished family business. Secrets are unravelled and the maternal and sibling bonds are all strengthened in this unusual story. The circularity is a delight, when the final truths are all spoken, Almodovar provides a neat but plausible finish to the drama. The men in the family come out badly.

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