Volver

Volver means "to return". This is a good title for this film. I thought this film was amazing. The actors were perfect for this film. This film has been my favorite. I never felt board with it and it flowed well. This whole film was a tribute to women and their resilience in the face of outrageous tribulations.
I was touched by these Hispanic women and the way they portrayed their culture. I saw love, strength, loyalty, friendship,endurance, and most of all family resilience. Again men were macho and the women were stronger and survivors. In my mind women are the stronger of the sexes. But that's a whole different subject! One of the cultural aspects shown was all the kissing and hugs they gave to each other. We as humans need touch and I love this part of the Hispanic culture. We should all feel love and respect.
Superstitions shown were beliefs that the winds made people crazy and brought evil. Another was they believed in ghost. That souls came back to correct mistakes and finish unfinished business. The culture would clean and polish their loved ones headstones out of respect. Some even cleaned their own that they have already bought. The graves are considered their second home. They are proud people.
The film starts out with women cleaning headstones. The next scene these women go to visit their aunt Paula. Raimunda here daughter Paula, and her sister Sole. Aunt Paula is old and confused. The women then go see their friend Augustine that looks after aunt Paula. I like Augustine. She is caring and down to earth. She is funny and smokes pot. She talks about her hippy mother. Raimunda and Pula return home to find that Paco lost his job. He looks at his daughter Paula like she is a piece of meat. Raimunda works three jobs at least to support the family. Raimunda is close to her daughter. After Raimunda returns home from work Paula is waiting for her. Paula accidentally killed Paco after he tried to rape her. He told her is was not wrong because he was not her real father. How sick he deserved to die. Raimunda being a strong protecting, loving mother cleanse up the mess and gets rid of the body. She tells her daughter that she is the one who killed Paco because she would not let her child be punished for something that was not her fault. How great the love of a mother and child!
As the film progresses each character's story is reviled and they are all intertwined together in some way. The bottom line ends up that Raimunda hated her mother for not noticing that her own father raped her and that she actually had a child that was her sister. She is a great woman to have this child and love her so much when her conception was a tragedy. Raimunda protected Paula.
Sole was a independent woman. Her own husband left her and she takes care of herself. After aunt Paula died we realize that their mother Irene is alive. She is found in Sole's trunk after the funeral. At first she thinks she is a ghost. Finally Raimunda finds out she is alive. I thought it was funny about Raimunda thinking she smelled her mother's farts. Raimunda finds out that her mother killed her father after she learned what her husband did to her. Also that he was having an affair with Augustine's mother and she was killed to. I think that Raimunda wanted to have her mother back in her life. I think that she really missed her. I think that before she was raped they probably had a wonderful mother/daughter bond. Irene longed to have her daughters love again. I thought it was good that Irene ended up taking care of Augustine. She knew Augustine was a good person and I think she was sorry that she killed her mother. But she did what she had to out of hurt and rage. Augustine was superstitious and welcomed Irene's "ghost" to care for her. I don't know how Raimunda carried all this baggage and still had all this love to give.
Again we see another film were women have to over come adversity. I am overwhelmed my the strength and love that women have. Another great film with life lessons. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for my children.