On DVD, 121 minutes, Rated R
In the world of Old Testament literary theory, stories are often divided into two types: Stories inside the tents and stories outside them. The second type are the most common in the OT (and on film). They are the stories of David, Moses, and Sampson, Scorcese and Hitchcock—of kings and warriors, battles and conquests—the defeats and triumphs of men. The first type, stories inside the tents, are the stories of the shadowy world of women. These stories are dominated by the struggle for children, acquiring or keeping a mate, and survival. Biblically, these would include the Leah and Rachel narratives, Ruth, and the Song of Solomon. They are rarely portrayed in cinema, but Volver, the Spanish-language film from Mexican director Pedro Almodovar, stands squarely in that genre, peeling back the tent to explore the interaction of the three primary roles each woman plays in a Spanish society: mother, lover/wife, and daughter.
The film centers on Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, always better in her native tongue), wife of Paco, a drunk, and mother to 13-year-old Paula. She lives near her sister Sole whose husband has left her. Their parents died several years ago in a freak fire, but they continue to be in contact with their aunt. Added to the mix is old family friend Agustina, whose hippie mother disappeared several years ago. Her subsequent cancer pushes her to search for the only family she knows, her mother, so that she may die with some sense of peace. Although the plot is a little elaborate, and it would hardly be fair to ruin the twists, Paco’s sudden death throws Raimunda’s family into disarray, forcing her to open a restaurant to keep the family afloat. Meanwhile, her long-dead mother returns to make amends and settle several issues.
While the plot of the film is convoluted and veers at times towards non-sensical, it primarily serves as a device to explore how a woman attempts to balance these three roles (mother, lover, daughter) and, when they are in conflict, how to determine which should prevail. The answer the film suggests is that women are mothers first, lovers second, daughters third. The tension caused by the purposeful or unpurposeful jumbling of this order by force, in the case of incest, and by choice, in the case of a hippie mother, propels the film. Men do not fair particularly well in this film, but neither are they reviled by the women. They are accepted. As lovers, women can tolerate a great deal from them. It is when women must act as mothers that these men are attacked. Either way, there are few charges leveled at men in this story that seem too unfair. A very rare subject explored with deft touch by (oddly) a man. B+
In the world of Old Testament literary theory, stories are often divided into two types: Stories inside the tents and stories outside them. The second type are the most common in the OT (and on film). They are the stories of David, Moses, and Sampson, Scorcese and Hitchcock—of kings and warriors, battles and conquests—the defeats and triumphs of men. The first type, stories inside the tents, are the stories of the shadowy world of women. These stories are dominated by the struggle for children, acquiring or keeping a mate, and survival. Biblically, these would include the Leah and Rachel narratives, Ruth, and the Song of Solomon. They are rarely portrayed in cinema, but Volver, the Spanish-language film from Mexican director Pedro Almodovar, stands squarely in that genre, peeling back the tent to explore the interaction of the three primary roles each woman plays in a Spanish society: mother, lover/wife, and daughter.
The film centers on Raimunda (Penelope Cruz, always better in her native tongue), wife of Paco, a drunk, and mother to 13-year-old Paula. She lives near her sister Sole whose husband has left her. Their parents died several years ago in a freak fire, but they continue to be in contact with their aunt. Added to the mix is old family friend Agustina, whose hippie mother disappeared several years ago. Her subsequent cancer pushes her to search for the only family she knows, her mother, so that she may die with some sense of peace. Although the plot is a little elaborate, and it would hardly be fair to ruin the twists, Paco’s sudden death throws Raimunda’s family into disarray, forcing her to open a restaurant to keep the family afloat. Meanwhile, her long-dead mother returns to make amends and settle several issues.
While the plot of the film is convoluted and veers at times towards non-sensical, it primarily serves as a device to explore how a woman attempts to balance these three roles (mother, lover, daughter) and, when they are in conflict, how to determine which should prevail. The answer the film suggests is that women are mothers first, lovers second, daughters third. The tension caused by the purposeful or unpurposeful jumbling of this order by force, in the case of incest, and by choice, in the case of a hippie mother, propels the film. Men do not fair particularly well in this film, but neither are they reviled by the women. They are accepted. As lovers, women can tolerate a great deal from them. It is when women must act as mothers that these men are attacked. Either way, there are few charges leveled at men in this story that seem too unfair. A very rare subject explored with deft touch by (oddly) a man. B+
1 comment:
Such a show-off. Mr. Hermeneutical Bible guy. Nice post. This one is working its way up my queue
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