Our final Melodrama of the season is an Almodóvar classic. After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.
Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) works and lives Madrid with her husband Paco and daughter Paula. Her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) lives nearby and they both miss their mother Irene (Carmen Maura), who died several years ago in a house fire along with their father. A former neighbour from their hometown reports that she has seen the ghost of Irene and both daughters do not believe her, but after a family tragedy, Irene's spirit materializes around her daughters to help comfort them. This is a touching, beautifully plotted film, full of visually stunning images and memorable jokes, it zips along without a wasted second in its 121 minutes. Almodóvar brought together a superb female ensemble in a picture about women working together as friends, sisters, mothers and neighbours, and the jury at Cannes rightly gave their best actress award to the lot of them. (Subtitles)
Spain 2006 Pedro Almodóvar 121m
