Nineteen films are in contention for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, which runs from May 14 to May 25. The history of a filmmaker at this festival can offer wisdom as to who could be out front to win the coveted Palme d’Or. Seven of the entries are by filmmakers that have been honored during past closing ceremonies. Newcomers to Cannes could end up being big winners with three filmmakers making their first appearance on the Croisette and another four having their films shown for the first time in competition. The jury will be headed by four-time Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu, who claimed the Best Director prize at Cannes in 2006 for “Babel.”
Below is a breakdown of the 19 films competing this year and the history of their helmers at the festival.
Pedro Almodóvar (“Pain and Glory”)
The acclaimed Spanish director is back at Cannes...
Below is a breakdown of the 19 films competing this year and the history of their helmers at the festival.
Pedro Almodóvar (“Pain and Glory”)
The acclaimed Spanish director is back at Cannes...
- 4/22/2019
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
'In the Fade' with Diane Kruger: Fatih Akin's German-language Avenging Woman drama may give its star the chance to become next awards season Isabelle Huppert. Diane Kruger: 2017–2018 awards season's Isabelle Huppert? The 2003 Cannes Film Festival's Female Revelation Chopard Trophy winner, Diane Kruger was Cannes' 2017 Best Actress winner for Fatih Akin's In the Fade / Aus dem Nichts. If Akin's German drama finds a U.S. distributor before the end of the year, Kruger could theoretically become the Isabelle Huppert of the 2017–2018 awards season – that is, in case the former does become a U.S. critics favorite while we stretch things a bit regarding the Kruger-Huppert commonalities. Just a bit, as both are European-born Best Actress Cannes winners who have been around for a while (in Huppert's case, for quite a while). Perhaps most importantly, like Huppert in Paul Verhoeven's Elle, Kruger plays a woman out for revenge in In the Fade. Diane Kruger-Isabelle Huppert 'differences' There is, however, one key difference between the two characters: in Elle, Huppert wants to avenge her own rape; in In the Fade, Kruger wants to avenge the death of her Turkish husband (Numan Acar) and their son (Rafael Santana) at the hands of white supremacist terrorists. Another key difference, this time about the Kruger-Huppert Cannes Film Festival connection: although Isabelle Huppert became a U.S. critics favorite – and later a Best Actress Oscar nominee – for her performance in Elle, her (unanimous) Best Actress Cannes win was for another movie, Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher / La pianiste back in 2001. At that time, Huppert also became a U.S. critics favorite (winning Best Actress honors in San Diego and San Francisco; a runner-up in Los Angeles and New York), but, perhaps because of the psychological drama's sexually charged nature, she failed to receive a matching Oscar nod. Last year's Cannes Best Actress, by the way, was Jaclyn Jose for Brillante Mendoza's Philippine drama Ma' Rosa. Huppert had been in contention as well, as Elle was in the running for the Palme d'Or. Diane Kruger Best Actress Oscar nomination chances? A Best Actress nomination for Diane Kruger at the German Academy Awards (a.k.a. Lolas) – for her first German-language starring role – is all but guaranteed. Curiously, that would be her first. As for a Best Actress Oscar nod, that's less certain. For starters, unlike the mostly well-reviewed Elle, In the Fade has sharply divided critics. The Hollywood Reporter, for one, summarized Akin's film as a “thriller made riveting by an emotional performance from Diane Kruger,” while The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it a “mediocre revenge drama” with “a not particularly good” star turn. Besides, since the year 2000 just one “individual” Best Actress Cannes winner has gone on to receive an Oscar nomination for the same performance: Rooney Mara*, who, though one of the two leads in Todd Haynes' Carol (2011), was shortlisted in the Oscars' Best Supporting Actress category so as not to compete with her co-star and eventual Best Actress nominee Cate Blanchett. Then there's the special case of Penélope Cruz; the 2006 Best Actress Oscar nominee – for Pedro Almodóvar's Volver – was a Cannes winner as part of that family comedy-drama ensemble†. And finally, despite their Cannes Best Actress win for performances in (at least partly) English-language films, no less than seven other actresses have failed to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards this century. Björk, Dancer in the Dark (2000). Maggie Cheung, Clean (2004). Hanna Laslo, Free Zone (2005). Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist (2009). Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy (2010). Kirsten Dunst, Melancholia (2011). Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars (2014). Coincidentally, that same year Moore starred in Still Alice, which eventually earned her the Best Actress Oscar. Warner Bros. will be distributing In the Fade in Germany later this year. Regarding the Oscars, whether late in 2017 or late in 2018, seems like it would be helpful if Diane Kruger got a hold of Isabelle Huppert's – and/or Marion Cotillard's and Jean Dujardin's – U.S.-based awards season publicists. * Rooney Mara shared the 2011 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award with Emmanuelle Bercot for My King / Mon roi. † Also in the Cannes-winning Volver ensemble: Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Chus Lampreave, and Yohana Cobo. 'The Beguiled' trailer: Colin Farrell cast in the old Clint Eastwood role in Sofia Coppola's readaptation of Civil War-set, lust & circumstance drama. Sofia Coppola ends Cannes female drought About 13 years ago, Sofia Coppola became the first American woman to be shortlisted for the Best Director Academy Award – for the Tokyo-set drama Lost in Translation, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson. Coppola eventually lost in that category to Peter Jackson for the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but she did take home that year's Best Original Screenplay Oscar statuette. There haven't been any other Oscar nominations since, but her father-daughter drama Somewhere, toplining Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning, was the controversial Golden Lion winner at the 2010 Venice Film Festival. This year, Coppola has become only the second woman to win the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director Award – for The Beguiled, an American Civil War-set drama based on Thomas P. Cullinan's 1966 novel of the same name (originally published as A Painted Devil). With shades of Rumer Godden's Black Narcissus, The Beguiled follows a wounded Union soldier as he finds refuge at a girls' boarding school in Virginia. Sexual tension and assorted forms of pathological behavior ensue. Tenuous Cannes-Oscar Best Director connection From 2000 to 2016, 20 filmmakers† have taken home the Cannes Film Festival's Best Director Award. Of these, only four have gone on to receive matching Best Director Oscar nominations – but no wins: David Lynch, Mulholland Dr. (2001). Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel (2006). Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007). Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher (2014). Four other Cannes Best Director winners were bypassed by the Academy even though their movies featured – at least a sizable chunk of – English-language dialogue: Joel Coen, The Man Who Wasn't There§ (2001). Paul Thomas Anderson, Punch-Drunk Love (2002). Gus Van Sant, Elephant (2004). Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive (2011). In other words, a Best Director Cannes Film Festival win is no guarantee of a Best Director Academy Award nomination. Ultimately, Sofia Coppola's chances of an Oscar nod in the Best Director category depend on how well The Beguiled is received among Los Angeles and New York film circles, and how commercially successful – for an “arthouse movie” – it turns out to be. † During that period, there were three Cannes Film Festival Best Director ties: 2001: Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There§ & David Lynch for Mulholland Dr. 2002: Im Kwon-taek for Painted Fire & Paul Thomas Anderson for Punch-Drunk Love. 2016: Cristian Mungiu for Graduation & Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper. Both films opened in the U.S. in spring 2017 and may thus be eligible for the upcoming awards season. § Ethan Coen co-directed The Man Who Wasn't There, but didn't receive credit in that capacity. 'The Beguiled' with Nicole Kidman. The Best Actress Oscar winner ('The Hours,' 2002) had two movies in the Cannes Film Festival's Official Competition; the other one was 'The Killing of the Secret Deer,' also with Colin Farrell. Moreover, Kidman was the recipient of Cannes' special 70th Anniversary Prize. 'Sly' & 'elegant' Also adapted by Sofia Coppola, The Beguiled will be distributed in the U.S. by Oscar veteran Focus Features (Brokeback Mountain, The Danish Girl). The film has generally received positive notices – e.g., “sly” and “elegant” in the words of Time magazine's Stephanie Zacharek – and could well become a strong awards season contender in various categories. The cast includes The Killing of a Sacred Deer actors Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell, in addition to Kirsten Dunst (the star of Coppola's Marie Antoinette), Somewhere actress Elle Fanning, Oona Laurence, Addison Riecke, Angourie Rice, and Emma Howard. As an aside, Cullinan's novel also served as the basis for Don Siegel's The Beguiled (1971), a Southern Gothic effort adapted by Irene Kamp and former Hollywood Ten member Albert Maltz. In the cast of what turned out to be a major box office flop: Clint Eastwood, Geraldine Page, Elizabeth Hartman, and Jo Ann Harris. Women directors at Cannes & the Oscars For the record, Soviet filmmaker Yuliya Solntseva was the Cannes Film Festival's first Best Director winner, for The Story of the Flaming Years back in 1961. The only woman to have directed a Palme d'Or winner is Jane Campion, for The Piano (1993). Early in 1994, Campion became the second woman to be shortlisted for an Academy Award in the Best Director category. The first one was Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties (1976). 'A Gentle Night' & 'Montparnasse Bienvenue' Qiu Yang's short film Palme d'Or winner A Gentle Night should be automatically eligible for the 2018 Academy Awards. But competition, as usual, will be fierce. In the last decade, the only short film Palme d'Or winner to have received an Oscar nomination is Juanjo Giménez Peña's Timecode (2016), in the Best Live Action Short Film category. This article was originally published at Alt Film Guide (http://www.altfg.com/).
- 6/21/2017
- by Steph Mont.
- Alt Film Guide
Penelope Cruz, Yohana Cobo in Volver Barbra Streisand – Yentl, The Prince Of Tides: Biggest Oscar Snubs #5 I've always had a personal grudge against the Academy's rules & regulations for the Best Foreign Language Film category. I know I'm not the only one. Time and again, deserving films aren't nominated not because Academy voters have different tastes than yours truly, but because they don't even have the chance to watch the potential contenders. Voters in this special category, for instance, are not allowed to watch movies on DVD or video; they actually have to go to official Academy screenings, where their presence is duly tabulated. Compounding matters, films fall by the wayside because they don't meet some arcane criterion or other. In December 1994, Richard Corliss wrote in Time, "[Krzysztof Kieslowski's] Red was shot in Geneva, with a mostly Swiss cast, yet when the Swiss submitted the film for a foreign-language [...]...
- 1/29/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
After he had directed a film that combines both his style and the genre of thriller, which means Bad Education, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar came back to his artistic roots.
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas) are two sisters who live in Madrid and their parents died in a fire three years before the events in the film. Was she was visiting her agonizing aunt (Chus Lampreave), Sole believes that she had seen and talked to the ghost of Irene (Carmen Maura), her mom. Apparently, Irene has some unfinished business to deal with. As a matter of fact, Irene doesn't understand why Raimunda, since her adolescence, has always loathed her.
Meanwhile, Raimunda and her daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo), cope with the death of Paco (Antonio de la Torre), Raimunda's husband and Paula's dad. Indeed, after he had told Paula that he's not her biological father, Paco tried to rape Paula.
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas) are two sisters who live in Madrid and their parents died in a fire three years before the events in the film. Was she was visiting her agonizing aunt (Chus Lampreave), Sole believes that she had seen and talked to the ghost of Irene (Carmen Maura), her mom. Apparently, Irene has some unfinished business to deal with. As a matter of fact, Irene doesn't understand why Raimunda, since her adolescence, has always loathed her.
Meanwhile, Raimunda and her daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo), cope with the death of Paco (Antonio de la Torre), Raimunda's husband and Paula's dad. Indeed, after he had told Paula that he's not her biological father, Paco tried to rape Paula.
- 7/8/2010
- by anhkhoido@hotmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
This review was written for the festival screening of "Volver".CANNES - The power of motherhood and the blessing of good friends run as themes through Pedro Almodovar's entertaining fantasy "Volver", even though the central topics are abuse and death.
Penelope Cruz has never looked lovelier or acted better as a prickly but resourceful woman whose long-held secret about the father of her teenage daughter is revealed only upon the appearance of her dead mother as a ghost.
It says a great deal about Almodovar's skill as a filmmaker that he can weave whimsical humor and stark drama together in such a winning fashion. It's hard not to believe audiences will respond warmly.
The memorable opening sequence shows a platoon of widows and daughters cleaning the gravestones of their departed loved ones in the windswept cemetery of La Mancha. Among them are Raimunda (Cruz) and her sister Sole (Lola Duenas), whose parents died in a house fire.
Like the Santa Anas in Los Angeles, the wind in La Mancha causes troubled minds, as the sisters' Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) demonstrates. Living alone, she has begun to see the image of her late sister Irene (Carmen Maura). The village women calmly accept that Irene has returned in order to take care of the aging and addled Paula.
The practical Raimunda, meanwhile, has lazy husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) to worry about and several jobs to juggle. Her life is turned on its head when she finds daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) standing in the rain in shock and discovers that she has stabbed Paco to death defending herself from sexual assault.
The fact that Paco was not Paula's father is quickly revealed, but she tells the girl that her real father also is dead. With steely determination, Raimunda hides the corpse in the freezer of a neighborhood restaurant that she is minding while the owner is away.
Almodovar sketches these scenes with great invention so that the horror of the situation is lightened but not ignored and events move quickly. When a movie crew needs somewhere to eat while on location, Raimunda comes to the rescue by opening the restaurant, relying on friends and neighbors to help her collect and prepare the food.
During this time, Aunt Paula has died, and Sole has not only encountered the ghost of her dead mother but also has her staying in the spare bedroom pretending to be a Russian emigre when customers show up for her unlicensed hairdressing service.
Kindly neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who has also cared for Aunt Paula, reveals that she has inoperable cancer and the circle that Almodovar creates between the living and the dead, parents and children, sisters and friends, becomes complete, though there are many further complications along the way.
The picture is beautifully shot by Jose Luis Alcaine, and the music of Alberto Iglesias complements it gracefully. Cruz is in top form, and the cast - which includes Maura working with the director for the first time in almost two decades - enters into the spirit of things.
It's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but with great charm and a light touch, Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done.
Penelope Cruz has never looked lovelier or acted better as a prickly but resourceful woman whose long-held secret about the father of her teenage daughter is revealed only upon the appearance of her dead mother as a ghost.
It says a great deal about Almodovar's skill as a filmmaker that he can weave whimsical humor and stark drama together in such a winning fashion. It's hard not to believe audiences will respond warmly.
The memorable opening sequence shows a platoon of widows and daughters cleaning the gravestones of their departed loved ones in the windswept cemetery of La Mancha. Among them are Raimunda (Cruz) and her sister Sole (Lola Duenas), whose parents died in a house fire.
Like the Santa Anas in Los Angeles, the wind in La Mancha causes troubled minds, as the sisters' Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) demonstrates. Living alone, she has begun to see the image of her late sister Irene (Carmen Maura). The village women calmly accept that Irene has returned in order to take care of the aging and addled Paula.
The practical Raimunda, meanwhile, has lazy husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) to worry about and several jobs to juggle. Her life is turned on its head when she finds daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) standing in the rain in shock and discovers that she has stabbed Paco to death defending herself from sexual assault.
The fact that Paco was not Paula's father is quickly revealed, but she tells the girl that her real father also is dead. With steely determination, Raimunda hides the corpse in the freezer of a neighborhood restaurant that she is minding while the owner is away.
Almodovar sketches these scenes with great invention so that the horror of the situation is lightened but not ignored and events move quickly. When a movie crew needs somewhere to eat while on location, Raimunda comes to the rescue by opening the restaurant, relying on friends and neighbors to help her collect and prepare the food.
During this time, Aunt Paula has died, and Sole has not only encountered the ghost of her dead mother but also has her staying in the spare bedroom pretending to be a Russian emigre when customers show up for her unlicensed hairdressing service.
Kindly neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who has also cared for Aunt Paula, reveals that she has inoperable cancer and the circle that Almodovar creates between the living and the dead, parents and children, sisters and friends, becomes complete, though there are many further complications along the way.
The picture is beautifully shot by Jose Luis Alcaine, and the music of Alberto Iglesias complements it gracefully. Cruz is in top form, and the cast - which includes Maura working with the director for the first time in almost two decades - enters into the spirit of things.
It's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but with great charm and a light touch, Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done.
- 11/3/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
British director Ken Loach and Spanish star Penelope Cruz were among the big winners at the climax of the Cannes Film Festival on the French Riviera on Sunday. The film-maker's drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley, which stars Cillian Murphy as an Irish medical student who joins the guerrilla war against British forces, picked up the Palme D'Or - the highest award of the festival. Accepting the trophy, Loach said, "We live in extraordinary times and that has made people political in a way they maybe weren't in the previous four, five, six years. The wars that we have seen, the occupations that we see throughout the world - people finally cannot turn away from that. It's very exciting to be able to deal with this in films, and not just be a complement to the popcorn." Cruz shared the Best Actress prize with her Volver castmates Carmen Maura, Yohana Cobo and Lola Duenas, while French Indigenes stars Jamel Debbouze, Samy Naceri and Sami Bouajila were joint winners of the Best Actor prize. In her acceptance speech, Cruz paid tribute to Volver director Pedro Almodovar, saying, "This prize really belongs to Pedro. You are the greatest, the bravest. You put so much magic into our lives. Thanks for what you do for women all over the world." Meanwhile, Mexican film-maker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu picked up the Best Director prize for Babel, a multi-cultural film starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The Grand Prix - the runners up prize - was awarded to French director Bruno Dumont's Flandres, while British film-maker Andrea Arnold accepted the Jury Prize - the 2nd runners up trophy - for her CCTV-inspired movie Red Road. The nine member jury was headed by Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai and included Samuel L. Jackson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Monica Bellucci and Ziyi Zhang.
- 5/29/2006
- WENN
- Well the Palmes are given out and it seems political correctness has won again. Everybody got something with the big prizes going to small films The Wind That Shakes The Barley, and Flanders that would have otherwise died at the box office. Volver got two Palmes for directing and acting but should have gotten the Golden one. Also "Babel" got the directing one which I knew it would get but it will collect many awards later this year along with "Volver".As Ken Loach said we live in political times and it didn't escape the jury, specially with China banning the controversial "Summer Place". Next year will be the 60th year of the festival and you can be sure, it will be a nice anniversary. A bientot.The AwardsPalme d'Or: "The Wind That Shakes The Barley" by Ken LoachGrand Prix (runner-up): "Flanders" by Bruno DumontPrix de la Mise
- 5/28/2006
- IONCINEMA.com
CANNES -- The power of motherhood and the blessing of good friends run as themes through Pedro Almodovar's entertaining fantasy Volver, even though the central topics are abuse and death.
Penelope Cruz has never looked lovelier or acted better as a prickly but resourceful woman whose long-held secret about the father of her teenage daughter is revealed only upon the appearance of her dead mother as a ghost.
It says a great deal about Almodovar's skill as a filmmaker that he can weave whimsical humor and stark drama together in such a winning fashion. It's hard not to believe audiences will respond warmly.
The memorable opening sequence shows a platoon of widows and daughters cleaning the gravestones of their departed loved ones in the windswept cemetery of La Mancha. Among them are Raimunda (Cruz) and her sister Sole (Lola Duenas), whose parents died in a house fire.
Like the Santa Anas in Los Angeles, the wind in La Mancha causes troubled minds, as the sisters' Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) demonstrates. Living alone, she has begun to see the image of her late sister Irene (Carmen Maura). The village women calmly accept that Irene has returned in order to take care of the aging and addled Paula.
The practical Raimunda, meanwhile, has lazy husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) to worry about and several jobs to juggle. Her life is turned on its head when she finds daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) standing in the rain in shock and discovers that she has stabbed Paco to death defending herself from sexual assault.
The fact that Paco was not Paula's father is quickly revealed, but she tells the girl that her real father also is dead. With steely determination, Raimunda hides the corpse in the freezer of a neighborhood restaurant that she is minding while the owner is away.
Almodovar sketches these scenes with great invention so that the horror of the situation is lightened but not ignored and events move quickly. When a movie crew needs somewhere to eat while on location, Raimunda comes to the rescue by opening the restaurant, relying on friends and neighbors to help her collect and prepare the food.
During this time, Aunt Paula has died, and Sole has not only encountered the ghost of her dead mother but also has her staying in the spare bedroom pretending to be a Russian emigre when customers show up for her unlicensed hairdressing service.
Kindly neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who has also cared for Aunt Paula, reveals that she has inoperable cancer and the circle that Almodovar creates between the living and the dead, parents and children, sisters and friends, becomes complete, though there are many further complications along the way.
The picture is beautifully shot by Jose Luis Alcaine, and the music of Alberto Iglesias complements it gracefully. Cruz is in top form, and the cast -- which includes Maura working with the director for the first time in almost two decades -- enters into the spirit of things.
It's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but with great charm and a light touch, Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done.
VOLVER
Sony Pictures Classics
El Deseo
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Pedro Almodovar
Producer: Esther Garcia
Executive producer: Agustin Almodovar
Director of photography: Jose Luis Alcaine
Art director: Salvador Parra
Editor: Jose Salcedo
Composer: Alberto Iglesias
Cast:
Raimunda: Penelope Cruz
Irene: Carmen Maura
Sole: Lola Duenas
Agustina: Blanca Portillo
Paula: Yohana Cobo
Aunt Paula: Chus Lampreave
Paco: Antonio de la Torre
Emilio: Carlos Blanco
Regina: Maria Isabel Diaz
Ines: Nieves Sanz Escobar
Production assistant: Leandro Rivera
TV presenter: Yolanda Ramos
Carlos: Carlos Garcia Cambero
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 121 minutes...
Penelope Cruz has never looked lovelier or acted better as a prickly but resourceful woman whose long-held secret about the father of her teenage daughter is revealed only upon the appearance of her dead mother as a ghost.
It says a great deal about Almodovar's skill as a filmmaker that he can weave whimsical humor and stark drama together in such a winning fashion. It's hard not to believe audiences will respond warmly.
The memorable opening sequence shows a platoon of widows and daughters cleaning the gravestones of their departed loved ones in the windswept cemetery of La Mancha. Among them are Raimunda (Cruz) and her sister Sole (Lola Duenas), whose parents died in a house fire.
Like the Santa Anas in Los Angeles, the wind in La Mancha causes troubled minds, as the sisters' Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) demonstrates. Living alone, she has begun to see the image of her late sister Irene (Carmen Maura). The village women calmly accept that Irene has returned in order to take care of the aging and addled Paula.
The practical Raimunda, meanwhile, has lazy husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) to worry about and several jobs to juggle. Her life is turned on its head when she finds daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) standing in the rain in shock and discovers that she has stabbed Paco to death defending herself from sexual assault.
The fact that Paco was not Paula's father is quickly revealed, but she tells the girl that her real father also is dead. With steely determination, Raimunda hides the corpse in the freezer of a neighborhood restaurant that she is minding while the owner is away.
Almodovar sketches these scenes with great invention so that the horror of the situation is lightened but not ignored and events move quickly. When a movie crew needs somewhere to eat while on location, Raimunda comes to the rescue by opening the restaurant, relying on friends and neighbors to help her collect and prepare the food.
During this time, Aunt Paula has died, and Sole has not only encountered the ghost of her dead mother but also has her staying in the spare bedroom pretending to be a Russian emigre when customers show up for her unlicensed hairdressing service.
Kindly neighbor Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who has also cared for Aunt Paula, reveals that she has inoperable cancer and the circle that Almodovar creates between the living and the dead, parents and children, sisters and friends, becomes complete, though there are many further complications along the way.
The picture is beautifully shot by Jose Luis Alcaine, and the music of Alberto Iglesias complements it gracefully. Cruz is in top form, and the cast -- which includes Maura working with the director for the first time in almost two decades -- enters into the spirit of things.
It's very difficult to mesh fantasy with reality, but with great charm and a light touch, Almodovar shows exactly how it should be done.
VOLVER
Sony Pictures Classics
El Deseo
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Pedro Almodovar
Producer: Esther Garcia
Executive producer: Agustin Almodovar
Director of photography: Jose Luis Alcaine
Art director: Salvador Parra
Editor: Jose Salcedo
Composer: Alberto Iglesias
Cast:
Raimunda: Penelope Cruz
Irene: Carmen Maura
Sole: Lola Duenas
Agustina: Blanca Portillo
Paula: Yohana Cobo
Aunt Paula: Chus Lampreave
Paco: Antonio de la Torre
Emilio: Carlos Blanco
Regina: Maria Isabel Diaz
Ines: Nieves Sanz Escobar
Production assistant: Leandro Rivera
TV presenter: Yolanda Ramos
Carlos: Carlos Garcia Cambero
MPAA rating R
Running time -- 121 minutes...
- 5/20/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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