story of women, frequently mezmerizing
Added 10/31/2009
This is a movie about women. Men rarely appear and when they do are usually loutish and brutish. The women seem completely self-sufficient, mutually supportive, brave and resourceful.
The memorable opening scene makes the point. Women from a village in the Spanish plains are busy polishing and cleaning their husbands' headstones and tombs. The camera widens and we see scores and scores of women.
Penelope Cruz gives a wonderful performance. Her presence lights up the screen even when she is seen weeping bitterly. At such moments, she looks almost haggard but her inner beauty shines through.
Cruz is at the fulcrum of this movie. I don't want to disclose any surprises so I'll simply say the story concerns three generations of women, all of whom have to overcome the trauma of ill-treatment by men. They do so by painfully uniting.
The photography is frequently arresting and the story engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
How not to dispose of a freezer
Added 3/1/2009
Volver is a restrained effort from this often flamboyant director. Unfortunately it's also one of his weakest. Uncharacteristically, Almodovar seems unsure both of himself and his themes and this is reflected in a rather flat and stunted script. None of the threads touched upon are developed enough to give the movie a true sense of direction. It is, however, redeemed somewhat by the performances. Penelope Cruz, in particular, is impressive. Overall a disappointment when compared to Almodovar's other work.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Volver - Blu-ray Info
Added 12/19/2008
Version: U.S.A / Sony / Region A
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-2 BD-50
Running time: 2:01:05
Movie size: 29,26 GB
Disc size: 35,20 GB
Total bit rate: 32.23 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 25.06 Mbps
LPCM Audio Spanish 4608 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4608 kbps / 16-bit
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English / English SDH
Number of chapters: 16
#Audio commentary
#The Making of Volver (8 min)
#Director and Cast Interviews
--Director/writer Pedro Almodovar (10 min)
--Actress Penélope Cruz (5 min)
--Actress Carmen Maura (8 min)
#Tribute to Penelope Cruz (AFI interview) (17 min)
#Photo gallery
#Poster gallery
#Bonus trailers (HD)
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Blu Ray Review
Added 11/4/2008
This review isn't about the movie. Sorry. You can read all the other reviews for that. The picture quality is very good but I'm disappointed in format/screen size they used. It's not 16x9. So the movie is still in letterbox form even on an HD widescreen tv. There aren't that many extra features either.
1 out of 5 people found this helpful.
|
Scenes in search of a movie
Added 9/10/2008
I wouldn't exactly call myself a fan of Almodovar's films, but I usually do enjoy watching them. My ambivalence towards him stems from the fact that, on the one hand, his movies tend to be messy works that try to do way too much. It's as if Almodovar is so bursting with creative energy and ideas that he just can't discipline himself to do one movie at a time, and instead tries to cram three or four into one. But, on the other hand, if one focuses on the scenes in each of the movies instead of the whole film, Almodovar's genius is sometimes breathtaking. Beautiful cinematography, wonderful scripts, superb acting. So my modus operandi for watching Almodovar these days is appreciating the scenes and forgetting about the coherency of the movie.
Volver is a mess, but a beautiful one. In an accompanying interview, Almodovar himself somewhat incredibly says that the film is about death: "it is precisely about death...More than about death itself, the screenplay talks about the rich culture that surrounds death in the region of La Mancha, where I was born. It is about the way (not tragic at all) in which various female characters, of different generations, deal with this culture." Most viewers, I suspect, won't have picked up on this, because, typically, death is only one of several themes. Others include mother-daughter relationships, incest, sexual abuse, friendship, and independent women. But forget all that, and focus on the scenes. The opening one of La Mancha women cleaning gravestones is one of the best to be found in an Almodovar film. Equally brilliant are the restaurant scenes. The final ones, in which Maura and Raimunda discuss the horrible family secret, truly mars the entire film. The secret has an incredible ring of falsity, and saps authenticity from what's gone before it.
Generally, the acting in "Volver" is superb. But for my money, the laurel goes to Lola Duenas for her portrayal of sister Sole.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
story of women, frequently mezmerizing
Added 10/31/2009
This is a movie about women. Men rarely appear and when they do are usually loutish and brutish. The women seem completely self-sufficient, mutually supportive, brave and resourceful.
The memorable opening scene makes the point. Women from a village in the Spanish plains are busy polishing and cleaning their husbands' headstones and tombs. The camera widens and we see scores and scores of women.
Penelope Cruz gives a wonderful performance. Her presence lights up the screen even when she is seen weeping bitterly. At such moments, she looks almost haggard but her inner beauty shines through.
Cruz is at the fulcrum of this movie. I don't want to disclose any surprises so I'll simply say the story concerns three generations of women, all of whom have to overcome the trauma of ill-treatment by men. They do so by painfully uniting.
The photography is frequently arresting and the story engaging. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
How not to dispose of a freezer
Added 3/1/2009
Volver is a restrained effort from this often flamboyant director. Unfortunately it's also one of his weakest. Uncharacteristically, Almodovar seems unsure both of himself and his themes and this is reflected in a rather flat and stunted script. None of the threads touched upon are developed enough to give the movie a true sense of direction. It is, however, redeemed somewhat by the performances. Penelope Cruz, in particular, is impressive. Overall a disappointment when compared to Almodovar's other work.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Volver - Blu-ray Info
Added 12/19/2008
Version: U.S.A / Sony / Region A
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-2 BD-50
Running time: 2:01:05
Movie size: 29,26 GB
Disc size: 35,20 GB
Total bit rate: 32.23 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 25.06 Mbps
LPCM Audio Spanish 4608 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4608 kbps / 16-bit
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English / English SDH
Number of chapters: 16
#Audio commentary
#The Making of Volver (8 min)
#Director and Cast Interviews
--Director/writer Pedro Almodovar (10 min)
--Actress Penélope Cruz (5 min)
--Actress Carmen Maura (8 min)
#Tribute to Penelope Cruz (AFI interview) (17 min)
#Photo gallery
#Poster gallery
#Bonus trailers (HD)
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
