Almodovar’s Volver nominated for Cannes award

20 April 2006

MADRID — Pedro Almodovar, Spain’s Oscar-winning director, has had his new film nominated for a Palm d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival.

The film opened last month at a showing for 1,000 special guests at his home town of Puertollano in La Mancha, then went on general release from 17 March.

It has so far packed cinemas and is currently Spain’s second biggest grossing films.

Volver (Return) is suffused with passion for his La Mancha homeland and affection for some of his favourite actresses, including Penelope Cruz and the director’s first muse, Carmen Maura.

Almodovar has described the film as “a dramatic comedy, almost an ‘Indiana Jones’ of domestic adventures of a family”.

The fame he has amassed from his earlier feature films ensured that even the start of shooting on his sixteenth film attracted the attention of journalists from all over the world, including Spain, France, Italy, Britain and even Japan.

Volver is, in the words of Almodovar, a return to his roots and to the memory of his mother.

“I base it totally on my life, my memories and those of my family,” he said.

In addition, it represents a return to comedy, to the feminine universe and to reflections on death, but without the suggestion of a tragic element.

Above all, the film speaks of the cult of death in rural areas, specifically in La Mancha, the high barren plains of south-central Spain known primarily as the setting of much of Don Quixote.

Many scenes take place in the town of Almagro, before the action shifts to Madrid.

Volver is the story of a rural family’s move to the Spanish capital, where they try to survive.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news