The V's: Volver (2006) and Venus (2006)

R: Right now there are two "V" movies running at the Michigan, Volver and Venus. They're both good, which is nice, since we had a bit of a drought for the last month or so.

Volver is a film by Spanish director PEDRO!, also known as ALMODOVAR!. All of the publicity around his films has this tenor, suggesting that he is, among other things, a folk hero, a powerful lover of women, and perhaps a fascist, in whom all the hopes and dreams of Spain, nay, humanity, are bound. In case you can't tell, I'm tired of hearing about ALMODOVAR!.

All the same, I enjoyed the film. I feel like it moves pretty effectively between several genres over the course of the film. Without spoiling anything, I found the principal transition eerily smooth. I'd like to make a much sharper statement about what's good about it -- bright colors! great performances! -- but mostly I enjoyed this intertwining of styles.

K: I also liked this film a lot. I was expecting to find it irritating, since the poster screams PENELOPE CRUZ! IN THIS MOVIE! ISN'T SHE GORGEOUS? DID WE MENTION IT STARS PENELOPE CRUZ?!

But actually, it was great. The whole film is kind of surreal--in the traditional sense that is. Dreams have the amazing tendency to make extraordinary events seem completely reasonable. This movie does the same thing--it had a way of making the most unreasonable transition seem completely normal. Penelope Cruz is great and the rest of the cast is even better. I will note that they are also fantastically ordinary-looking compared to Cruz and Yohana Cobo (who plays the daughter). But rather than being distracting, the contrast is just...surreal.

My feeling is that this film is worth seeing on the big screen--both because it is striking visually, and because the dark theater seems to add to the ambiance.


R: Venus was also quite enjoyable. Or perhaps I should say "respectable." This is a film that could easily have become too sweet, too nice, with the heart of gold completely overshadowing the dirty old man. Peter O'Toole remains interesting till the end, sweet and sympathetic, but not overly so.

K: I couldn't have said it better. Old men in movies are often sweet, harmless, and more than a little off their rocker. O'Toole is sweet, but he is sharp and certainly not harmless. The role has great dignity and shows that people don't stop being themselves just because they get old.

R: If you're only going to see one "V" movie, we recommend Volver, but only because Venus will look just fine on DVD.