The first time I watched "Return" was when I was a sophomore. At that time, I didn't see it very deeply, but what I felt most deeply was probably Penélope Cruz's beauty and her touching singing voice when she sang in front of the restaurant. Plus this is the first Almodovar movie I've seen, and I'm also impressed by the bright and strong color style of the movie. The biggest impression at that time was: This is too beautiful! I must go to Spain a few times in the future!
Watching "Return" again, perhaps because I have experienced some hardships in life after working in the past few years. After the film ended, my biggest feeling was really wanting to sigh from the bottom of my heart: "It's really not easy to live." . If I had to add one more sentence, it would be: "It is truly admirable to be able to endure hardship and be full of hope."
The storyline of the movie revolves around several women from beginning to end. The only two men who appear frequently are Paco, who was stabbed to death by his daughter in the first half of the film (of course, he was actually an adopted daughter, but this relationship cannot be seen until the second half of the film); the other is the heroine who was repeatedly stabbed to death The father who was mentioned but never explained in detail. However, these two men are the key trigger points of the main plot of the film. It can also be understood that their main role is only used by Almodovar to promote the development of the story line and let the audience have a deeper understanding of the female characters in the film. A stepping stone to a state of motivation.
If I were to choose the Chinese name for the film "Return", I might be more inclined to choose another translation of it - "Floating Flowers". It reminds me of an ancient poem of ours, "Life is up and down." Using the word "floating flower" to describe a woman, what would her first impression be? After the wind and frost, they used to be beautiful and moving, but now the clouds are light and windy. Maybe they are working on trivial things every day. In rare cases, you can see the shadow of the past from their gestures. In the film, from the heroine Raimunda, to the heroine's mother Irene, to the old friend Augustina, everyone fits this description more or less. Their lives, which were originally ordinary and simple, suddenly encountered a great change one day, or suffered heart-piercing heartache, or suffered great suffering and humiliation. But after many years, it seems that you can no longer see the shadow of the past. They use extremely fast and enthusiastic tones to chat with you about the trivial parents in life, bring you a delicious homemade snack, and greet you with a smile when they see you. Maybe I will ask you to borrow some money urgently, but it will be returned to you soon, thank you kindly, and bring a small gift to thank you.
But you cannot see the suffering and torment, heartache and depression hidden in their hearts. If you look closely, you might be able to get some clues. For example, you can see that Rainmunda sang emotionally amid the cheers and applause, and could not help but wet her eyes with tears. For example, after you see that Augustina is terminally ill, you beg Rainmuda to help find out the whereabouts of your mother, just for the sake of a knot in your heart that has been sealed for many years. Another example we saw at the end of the film, Rainmuda's mother, took her daughter's hand and sighed softly in repentance.
Almodovar portrays women very well. In this film, the tenacity and forbearance of several important female characters are especially well portrayed. I especially like Raimuda's calmness and pretense when dealing with Paco's body. From the uneasiness when I saw Zhang Huang's look on my daughter's face, to the screaming and frightened when she stepped into the kitchen (the scene of the accident), this is still within my expectations. Because this is the reflection of normal people. But she seemed to calm down quickly, and immediately said firmly and calmly to her daughter: "If you are found, say that I did it." Then, the director quickly explained how she dealt with the bloodstains and corpses on the scene in a few shots, and everything seemed to be neat and clean. In the middle of the episode, the restaurant owner came over to ask her to help take care of the restaurant, and when she saw the blood on her neck, she was also put off by her light "Auntie is here". In the next few days, her restaurant business was in full swing, providing catering services to the film shooting team from outside. She was busy and enthusiastic, and she didn't look like someone who still had a corpse in the back kitchen refrigerator to deal with.
This is not a big heart, but a solid calm. The director explained her logic of dealing with the corpse very clearly. The first step is to drag Paco into the refrigerator in the restaurant's storage room to freeze it; the second step is to find a free night, pull the unwitting female neighbor to help, smuggle out the body and bury it together. When someone asked about Paco's whereabouts, the phrase "Paco left me" made people not only have no doubts, but also felt sympathy for her. On the night of burying the body, she sent her daughter to her sister's house for the night. The reason is also very interesting. The main point is: Paco will come back to talk with me tonight, and it is best if her daughter is not present. You have to admire her thoughtfulness.
In fact, when I saw the above clips, I had doubts in my heart: How can an ordinary Spanish woman be so calm and not panic in the face of the corpse? Is it related to her past experience? Maybe she has faced such a thing in the past.
The movie does not explain this, but it does reveal a more shocking but cruel secret. It turns out that Raimuda was insulted by his biological father when he was young, and his daughter Pola is actually his sister. The film is told through the mother's point of view. In the last paragraph, the mother and Rainmuda walk with each other on the deserted street in the middle of the night, sharing their thoughts and repentance for each other. From the mother's mouth, we learn that after Raimuda suffered unforgivable insults from her father, she began to alienate her family, moved away from home to live in Madrid, and immediately married Paco. The mother did not understand her daughter's alienation from her, and felt sad and disappointed at the same time, and began to hate and curse her daughter. It's hard for us to imagine how many years ago, Raimuda silently endured such public opinion advice. Of course, most importantly, how she silently endured the humiliation and heartbreak in her heart. I don't know if it was the busy life and the unstoppable time that gradually made her numb and forget the unbearable past; The film does not explain, or rather, Raimuda himself has concealed all of this disguise very well. But we can see some sadness through the tears in her eyes when she sang the songs she loved when she was young in front of the restaurant; we can also feel the heavy weight she has endured over the years from her reconciliation and hug to her mother like a child. .
Perhaps, it was not the experience of humiliation that made Raimuda show extraordinary calmness in the face of corpses. I think a better explanation is that Raimuda's innate forbearance quality allows her to face her father's insults and her husband's corpse, and she can deal with the past with a strong and optimistic attitude. If we zoom in a little bit and see how Augsutina faced the pain of her mother disappearing for many years without knowing her whereabouts, and how Irene managed to hide and survive for so many years after killing her husband and "little three" in a fit of rage, we will It suddenly dawned on me: Such strength and forbearance are not only found in Raimuda, but also in Irene and Augustina.
Is there a mother without a daughter? Or do Spanish women do this? I believe more that this is Almodóvar's tribute to the tenacity of all women. Don't men have toughness? The answer is of course no. But men's tenacity is often stronger, more tragic, and easier to be observed by the outside world. The tenacity of women is a feeling of holding back, laughing against the wind and frost, and feeling light. If you don't look carefully, you may think that they have never been so happy and so indifferent. But maybe there are 10,000 heartbreaks in their hearts that we just can't see.
View more about Volver reviews
