The strong family bond that is quite common in India is one of the key points that we share with Latin America. Nowhere else have I seen such togetherness and feeling of kinship among family members or neighbours.
If you go to any sleepy Indian town just after siesta time, you might see a bunch of neighbourhood women talking among themselves.’Gappa marne ka time’ -(time to chit-chat/gossip) as people condescendingly saw. What these women talk or discuss is beyond me. But this private time they have for themselves is a very closely guarded possession. Woe betide any man who dare interrupt them:-)
When I saw the initial ads for Volver, these were the vignettes that flashed through my mind and were the key impetus to my watching this movie. Ok, the sight of a stunning beautiful Penelope Cruz(that fake but* is awesome) also helped:-)
The movie begins at a graveyard where Raimunda(Penelope), her teenage daughter Paula and a couple of other relatives visit the grave of her mother Irene. It is a very windy day, but the conversation that follows is quite typical of provincial neighbourhood women. The scenes where these women sit and talk in general was very life like and brought back those’sleepy-Indian-town-women’ thoughts that I mentioned earlier. A family friend even offers Raimunda a jar of pickles before she leaves. And you start thinking yet another goody-goody movie.
But all is not well in Paradise. Irene’s ghost(or is it?) haunts the house of Raimunda’s sister Sole. There is also some tragedy hidden behind Raimunda’s kohl-lined eyes. Will the terror following this family leave young Paula alone? Why is Irene’s ghost back?
All these questions are answered during the course of this well-knit movie.
Watch the movie to quench your curiosity.
Why did I like this movie?
It is refreshingly natural. Each character lives out their roles. Whether it is the cancer striken Augustina - the family friend, or the confused/scared teenager Paula who adores her mom, a mysterious and feisty Raimunda or Irene with her hidden secrets. The actors playing each of these roles has put in an awesome performance. I never believed Penelope Cruz could act. I stand corrected.
It was almost like watching a well-made Indian movie. Most of the characters are people we could have met in our day to day life in India.
These are feisty women. They do not roll-over and play dead very easily. My kinda women.
If I remember correctly, there were very few male characters in this movie.(The few men present were villains anyway:-)).
After seeing movies like this, I am convinced that there are other Latin American movies(with subtitles ofcourse) that will make sense to us desis. And here begins my quest for those movies. City of Gods to follow next.