...Vulvar !!! )

I certainly didn't expect a remake of John Tucker Must Die quite so soon, but since it's here, I'm glad that Vulvar is such a splendidly sophisticated one. This is a grrrrrl power movie all growed-up -- women using the full spectrum of super powers percolating within them... from family and neighborhood politics to sense of smell to mastery over time and space. And when I say "women", I mean only women. Men are just glimpsed as part of the background, furniture to be hauled about, as it were. It's a very cool perspective, and the perfect one from which to tell this story.

I was so close to not seeing this film. You see, I've been burned by Almodóvar before. I really didn't enjoy his much hyped All About My Mother, which had nowhere near the maturity of writing and direction that his new film possesses aplenty. So I've avoided Vulvar for a moon now... and yet, today it called to me and today I answered.

Great acting, hilarious black comedy, and a sparkling screenplay unite here to make a wonderfully observed and emotionally resonant film about womanhood and humankind...

7 out of 5.



{I'm shocked there's not a thread about this in the Foreign and Independent Film sub-forum yet! But then I guess it's been a pretty sparse year for any great foreign films -- at least in my experience. Though, after Pan's Labyrinth this makes two great Spanish ones in a row now!}

Literally....

(based on the trailers):

Tomorrow! I can't tell both of you (hell, the whole world) how excited I am to finally see this. On the big screen, nonetheless.

It is playing just down the street. I was expecting to have gone by now...but I just haven't. Maybe I'm still unhappy after Bad Education and how I just didn't really like it as much as I was expecting. Hmm...

If you didn't like BE, you will probably like Volver more. Its alot 'warmer' than BE, and less psychological than Talk to Her. I liked the other two better, but if I remember why you didn't like Bad Education, it was for the very reasons I did. Volver, however, does not create ambiguous characters. Instead, Almodovar aims for sort of realism, and all the characters are very approachable. They may have had tough experiences (I won't give too much away) but they are experiences that still fall within the spectrum of what we can understand as an audience (molestation, depression, denial, fear, hope). Bad Education was much more aloof in some regards, because Bernal's character was much less legible. And Talk to Her is even more abstract than BE.

All are technically well crafted. That is why in my review I originally said the best compliment Volver could have is that it is a Pedro film. Often when directors try a new route they lose their touch, or the film starts to feel too studio-fareish. Volver doesn't. It still has his style, but is much softer and, dare I say it, saccharine. That's not bad, because Pedro pulls off even the sweet with his usual style, but its very different than Bad Education and Talk To Her tonally (and message-wise).

That's good... Bad Education left me cold.

Spare us another review that misses the point.

Just because gay people are in a movie, doesn't mean it's good

(I'm sort of just kidding!)

I've got Talk to Her on my Blockbuster queue so I'll check it out in a few weeks. As for BE, I'm not exactly sure why I didn't like it. Sure, as I pointed out, Bernal was amazing as the characters he played, but ... it just didn't resonate. It felt too ... outlandish. I get the whole femme fatale in reverse and all that (something I didn't catch on to right away), but somehow...I don't know exactly where it went sour for me, but it left me very cold.

Still, I can respect style, I gave it a decent grade. Almodovar has talent, I'll give him that.

Judging from what dolce is saying, Volver sounds more like The Flower of My Secret than anything else, if only improved upon by more likable characters and better direction. Flower was very warm and much.. approachable compared to his other work that I've seen, skirting the line between Drama and Comedy nicely. Unlike All About My Mother, the dramatic scenes were better, imo. I hope to see a little bit of that influence in Volver.

Hey now. I justified my opinions. At least respect 'em.

Hehe.

I could see why you and Rogue and others felt that way. Its why I loved it, but then again...I'm cold.

I'd be interested to know what you think of Volver if you get the chance to see it. As usual Bradley gets the ball rolling with a John Tucker parallel that made me scratch my head. I understand the female focus of the film, but the entire movie isn't really about the war of the sexes (I haven't seen John Tucker though, so I may have false assumptions based on the trailers and marketing). The entire movie is pretty much about the circle of past and future (hence the title). And while audience's get the feeling that the three generations of women are all building towards their future relationship, its a consequence of their deeply complex shared history. Neither one could exist without the other, and as often as you feel the women are conscious about their decisions, you feel their personalities are also products of what they didn't realize they were all part of.

'

Hmm...so classic Almodovar style (haven't seen enough to know exactly what "that" is) + more likeable characters + a more approachable subject ... I'm so there this week.

Yet dolce managed to find something to entertain her.

I know you are sort of just kidding, but there is too much truth in what you say. I agree. Those fruity parts were just icing on the cake. The movie is hilarious (you can't not crack up at the beginning when Zahara is on her escapades) and I actually thought the gay scenes were so over the top that they can't actually be seen as arousing. Not at all. Ok, well maybe the swimming pool scene is hot... just a bit....

I've not even seen a trailer for Volver so I really will be walking in to it pretty cold which I think is much, much better when approaching a film such as this.

I guess, but I've seen Flower, and this is nothing like it. Stylistically his earlier movies had quirkier sort of nuerotic people, and the way he told their stories was more 'naturalistic.'. No one in Volver is particularly nuerotic, they are more pragmatic mixed with emotions, and yet he weaves them together in the sort of more musical way he's developed beginning with Talk To Her, if that makes sense?

That's what I gather. I appreciate his movies almost always (I'm almost sure to fall in love with it and proclaim it one of the year's best) so I'm not worried about the subject matter being more warm. It has worked with other films, especially Flower, which only had a cameo by a transvestite (surprisingly low for an Almodovar film).

I'm working on my top 10 for the year right now. I am tempted to wait till I've seen Volver, but then again I'll probably hate it so we won't bother. Hehehe.

I would never accuse most people on this site directly of loving a film "because it was gay" or "because it was x"... well... I take that back, some people on WOKJ as a whole yes, but I wouldn't get into discussions with them... For the most part, I think you have to give some benefit of the doubt that people can see through the subject matter to look at the film objectively. But with Bad Education, there seemed to be a weird aspect of it to me which was fed into the whole "is it good because it's gay?" angle. Especially in a year which had Brokeback Mountain (which I actually thought didn't go far enough into developing the gay love affair, go figure).


I just thought the film really lost its way, Almodovar didn't make me care for the character, and that's a big no-no regardless of the plot.

In Almodovar films, I expect to care about the characters.

I don't know, I was hoping the marijuana lady (the one with Cancer, from the trailer) would be quirky, but if you insist...

Yeah, that makes more sense. Flower just seemed like a good analogy on a superficial level because it is much more approachable (all things relative, of course...), but I can appreciate the Talk to Her reference and I think I see where you are going. I'm up for it, certainly. It appears to have more of an ensemble, is this true? It seems like that, the more accessible material, and a more universal story seems in store. I still think I will love it, for I always appreciate his take on the characters (and the types of people they perfectly resemble). No doubt, it will be a treat. Your explanation here cleared lots up, thanks.

I agree. I didn't care for the characters. In the end when he did the sort of documentary-esque closing (which was clever), I was like, ehh...so?

No, I really appreciate where dolce is coming from and I do believe you will get much more out of this. I knew it was much, much different from BE and his darker episodes, but it shouldn't be anything worth avoiding. Not at all. I think it is a good candidate for your list and I haven't even seen it. This year is weak, anyway.

This year has, unfortunately been very week. I'm having trouble finding ten films that I really liked.