Volver

I think that in this film, Raimunda’s character shows how the role of women is not limited to being a mother or wife, even though she is both. She is a hardworking, decisive, practical, and intelligent individual who deftly handles the horrendous situations that occur throughout the course of the film. For example, when she comes home from working all day she is bombarded by the fact that her daughter murdered her husband because he was trying to rape her. It is an extremely traumatizing situation, but she deals with it unimaginably well. She decides to take full responsibility should the incident be discovered because she loves her daughter. She cleans up all the blood around the body, and later, puts it in a freezer so it doesn’t rot. Raimunda also works really well with others, and displays qualities of interdependency, rather than either the stereotypical dependence of women or the independence of men. We see that she is a skilled businesswoman in the way she negotiates with her friends to get food to make meals in the restaurant. She manages to borrow food from them, but doesn’t take advantage of them in any way.

The main theme of the “return” in this film is apparent when Irene comes back. I think the purpose of her return is to bring all the women (Sole, Raimunda, Paula, and Agustina) together and help them heal their wounds. We don’t realize all of their problems right away, but each one’s issues are serious. Sole’s husband left her; Agustina has cancer, doesn’t know whether or not her mother is dead; Paula kills her father who is not really her father; and Raimunda is not only widowed, but was abused and impregnated by her own father. It seems that all of these women function well enough on a daily basis, but on a deeper level, are very distressed. They all support and comfort each other, but none of them seem to completely resolve their issues until Irene returns. This is especially evident in Agustina’s and Raimunda’s cases. Irene fills the role of Agustina’s lost mother and cares for her when the cancer overcomes her. Also, after she talks to Raimunda about how her father abused her, we get the sense that Raimunda will be able to address and move past the psychological issues she has repressed for years. 

One scene I found interesting was when Sole attended her Aunt Paula’s funeral. After she came into the house, she was in an empty hallway. Suddenly, her late mother (Irene) appears and says, “I have to talk to you.” Because Sole is terrified of her mother’s ghost, she shrieks and runs in the other direction. She runs through a doorway and stops, only to find that a whole crowd is staring at her. The strange thing about this crowd was that it was made up of all men. As the camera pans over all these men, it shows that they are scrutinizing Sole without any real expressions on their faces. I thought the men were acting abnormally in this situation because Sole is running, screaming, and is obviously distressed (at her aunt’s funeral), yet instead of asking her what’s wrong, they silently stare at her. This made is seem like the men were unsympathetic, and with their staring, also seem to be judging Sole. Agustina shows up to “rescue” Sole from the situation, and right after, we see her among a large group of women. In contrast to the men, the women seem more concerned, and far more personal. Sole is far more comfortable in the latter situation, is treated less like an object, and more like a subject.