NOTE: THIS AND ALL FUTURE SCREENINGS WILL BE AT THE BEACON ARTS VILLAGE, THE OLD TOWN HALL, ONE, THE QUADRANT, HOYLAKE CH47 2EE

DOORS OPEN 6.30pm. BAR AND FOOD AVAILABLE FROM 6.30 – 11.30 pm. FILM STARTS 7.30pm.

Year: 2006
Country: Spain
Directed by: Pedro Almodovar

Cast:
Penélope Cruz (Raimunda)
Carmen Maura (Irene)
Lola Dueñas (Sole)
Blanca Portillo (Agustina)
Yohana Cobo (Paula)
Chus Lampreave (Tía Paula)

Winning twice at Cannes Film Festival (for Best Actress, Best Screenplay); two BAFTAS (Best Actress, Best Foreign Language Film); an Academy Award (Best Actress), among a raft of other awards and accolades, Volver (Coming Home) is a terrific, playful tragicomedy from master filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, one of Europe’s greatest and most prolific directors.

Penélope Cruz plays Raimunda, a hard-working mother living with a teenage daughter, Paula (Yohana Cobo), and good-for-nothing husband Paco. She spends her spare time tending to her parents’ graves with sister Sole (Lola Dueñas), and visiting Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave), who is in the final stages of dementia.

When a terrible event changes the family forever, and a secret about Raimunda’s late mother Irene (Carmen Maura) surfaces when she ‘comes home’ from beyond the grave, some unbearable truths come to the surface…

There’s a classic feel to the film as a result of José Luis Alcaine’s magnificent cinematography and Salvador Parra’s art direction, which deliver some truly Hitchcockian moments.
But there’s another key characteristic of Almodovar’s films; his empathy and focus is very clearly on the female characters – with the men’s roles rendered almost marginal.
Volver is one of the most highly regarded of Almodovar’s many films, which include The Skin I Live In, Bad Education, All About My Mother, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Matador.

121 mins. Cert 15