Penelope Cruz received her first Oscar nomination for playing Raimunda in Pedro Almodovar's Volver. Raimunda's daughter kills her husband in self defense and Raimunda hides his body in a restaurant she takes over from a friend. Her sister Sole finds out that her mother is still alive and her mother wants to connect with both of her daughter's again. I think that this is Cruz's best performance, but I was a little disappointed on 2nd viewing. Not that she's bad, it just wasn't quite as good as I remembered and I wish there could have been more showier moments for her to show off her chops. But this is still a great performance. Cruz is very natural and does a great job in keeping us involved with her character. When she sings, the emotion on her face is wonderful and she works great in the scenes with her daughter and the scenes with her sister. The last scene with her mother is also a very beautiful moment. Cruz has a great presence in every scene she's in, radiant, earthy, and fiery. This is an impressive achievement by a great actress which gets
4 comments:
Cruz is stunning in this; loved the movie and her performance. I agree that it's her best.
Yes, I really like the film! What did you think of her in Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona?
See, I understand that this is Cruz's comfort zone. But for some reason it felt different. I warmed up to the organic nature of her character, even when I knew she probably created it effortlessly.
And yes, that scene where she's singing is one for the books. I like the gradual progression of her emotions as they are finally translated into tears at the end of the scene.
I liked her in VCB, but this is still my favorite performance of hers.
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