Volver

This film was one of the best so far in this class. It was easier to watch than some, but there was still a lot of mystery.
In the beginning, the cleaning of the gravesites was a little different. We may clean off the graves when we visit our loved ones, just not to that level. It is done out of respect. I'm thinking that was one of the superstitious acts. The women Raimunda and her sister Soledad along with Raimunda's daughter Paula visited with their senile Aunt Paula. They thought she was crazy because she told them that their mother Irene had been caring for her, when Irene had supposedly been killed in a fire as well as their father a few years ago. Their is a superstition that the "east wind" in the town causes people to be insane. A woman across the street, Augustina, also looks out for Aunt Paula. Her mother had been missing since the fire and she had been trying to find out whether her mother is alive or dead. After the women returned home, Paco, Raimunda's husband, told her he lost his job. After work the next day, Paula met Raimunda at the bus stop and told her she stabbed Paco to death after he tried to molest her. While they are hiding the body, they find out Aunt Paula had passed away. While attending Aunt Paula's funeral, Soledad, thinks she sees her mother's spirit and runs away. There is also a superstition the the dead return to their loved ones to finish any business that was left undone. After returning home, Soledad finds out her mother is alive after all and happens to be in the trunk of her car. At first Irene hides from Raimunda because they did not get along in the past. Eventually, Raimunda finds out about her mother and they patch things up. Irene apologizes for allowing Raimunda's father to rape and impregnate her. Raimunda and her daughter almost had this same thing happen, but it was caught before things turned worse. The women of this family came together at last and were even stronger for the all the incidents that had happened in their lives. They all succeeded without being weak, without men, and with the help of each other. This is why the film is considered a tribute to women. Women are a lot tougher than they think.