One of these people directed Volver. The rest are in it. Can you guess who is who?
Is Volver
a) A magic realist Spanish melodrama
b) A showcase for some of the biggest Spanish actresses
c) A bloodthirsty plea for the legalisation of revenge killing
d) A how-to guide for small business women
e) A ghost story
f) A tricksy thriller with a killer twist
g) A black comedy
h) All of the above?
Okay, so Almodovar lays some things on thick in Volver. And it sits oddly between the more mature but issue heavy flicks he has recently made and the slightly lighter melodramas from the eighties. But it is properly enjoyable fun for all its magic realist trappings and potentially inconsequential storyline (its attack on tabloid TV is particularly toothless). For anyone who likes seeing someone who is good at what they do, being good at what they do.
It is a bit soft on the murderers though. And I am looking forward to the porn version : Vulva).
*There is only one way to make an avowed hater of magic realism like magic realism in a film. And without giving anything away, Volver does it. Feel free to guess how that works.