Re: Volver

Listening to few of my students talk about Spain's most celebrated contemporary film director and Spain's most internationally successful actress you'd think that most people in Madrid were hoping that Penelope Cruz wouldn't be in the running for tonight's best actress Oscars.

Yet the fact that "Pe" was nominated at all is quite an achievement considering the lack of critical success garnered in the US for her American films (where she has played a Brazilian, a Greek, a Colombian, a Mexican and even a Frenchwoman - the last of those in Fanfan la Tulipe - but rarely a Spaniard) and for such a (*ahem*) typically Spanish role to boot.

Here's the British trailer, followed by the American one...

Did Almodovar include the scene of Penelope sitting on the toilet as a nod to Tom Cruise's other ex who did the same thing in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut?

Did a jokey reference to whether Raimunda seemed to have a more generous chest than her mother remembered have its origin in scurrilous gossip about Ms. Cruz's own measurements?

And did the much commented "false rear" that added to the Penelope Cruz is this year's Sofia Loren comments really inspire Victoria Beckham in those poses for the "his and hers" Beckham perfume poster campaign?

Of course the smart money is on Helen Mirren to win for her portrayal of The Queen... but as we all know - unlike Nicole and Penelope - the Queen doesn't go to the toilet.

Some people reading this in Spain still may not realise, but in the English-speaking world dubbing films from one language into another is usually regarded as tacky, and is usually an option limited to pornography and old kung-fu films.

Therefore any Brits, Yanks, Aussies and the like who have seen Volver will have had to struggle with the subtitles. However, Penelope's command of English has enabled her to promote the film in a way that Santiago Segura was never able to do for Torrente (despite also notching up an impressive array of bit-parts in various American movies).

Here she is promoting Almodovar's flick on some American talk show... and unlike on a BBC radio interview (sadly offline!) she doesn't have a titter at the poor "Anglo" pronunciation of the film's title which sounds more like part of the female anatomy than the Spanish verb for coming back. "Volver" pronounced as in "Re-volver"? In English? Get it??

Okay.. just watch the film clip ...

Oh, and here are a handful of reviews in English:

• The Guardian
• BBC Movies
• Metro
• Time Out
• Rotten Tomatoes (a collection of US reviews)

...and finally, an amusing guide to all the things prudish Americans could find offence with in Almodovar's latest film, at screenit.com.