Grief, Resistance, and Female Solidarity in Volver and Cría Cuervos
In Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver (2006) and Carlos Saura’s Cría Cuervos (1976), the female protagonists, Raimunda and Ana, have undergone the loss of their mothers, and are shown navigating their lives without them throughout the films. Stylistically, the films vary greatly, Volver combines its morbid themes with humor and vibrant settings. This is seen in the use of bright colours, particularly Almodóvar’s iconic use of red, as an intentional choice to brighten the film, alongside lively attire for the characters to contrast the serious topics covered in the film. Conversely, Cría Cuervos uses a slow-paced, serious narrative, surrounded by muted and cold atmospheres. Additionally, instead of alleviating the dark topics within the story with humor, as Almodóvar does in Volver, Saura emphasizes the somber, with cruel dialogue used toward and by young protagonist Ana. Though each film is quite opposite when comparing aesthetics, the themes presented in both stories possess many similarities. In both Volver and Cría Cuervos, narrative elements are used to blend the past and present, in order to immerse the audience in the confusion of grief which the protagonists experience. In both films the lead characters use murder as a tool to escape the oppression from patriarchal figures and assert their agency, whether it is literally, as in the case of Paula, Raimunda’s daughter in Volver, or figuratively, in regard to Ana in Cría Cuervos. Lastly, plot in both films revolves around the primary female characters, who are oppressed under the patriarchy and are led to prioritize the support they receive from their female relationships in order to empower themselves.
In Volver, the protagonist, Raimunda, loses her mother and father when they die in a fire. Raimunda does not work through the process of grief, instead she shuts out the memory of her mother, Irene, altogether. Raimunda’s daughter, Paula, admits that Raimunda does not speak of her past, preferring not to remember the time which she spent with her mother and father in her childhood. However, her mother gradually returns, through the memory of others. First, Raimunda’s Aunt Paula mentions that Irene takes care of her in her empty home. Both the audience and Raimunda alike dismiss this mention, since Aunt Paula is in an unfit state of mind, bordering on death. However, the mention of Irene being alive continues, when Raimunda’s close friend, Agustina, demands that Raimunda speak to Irene, despite her being dead. The constant mention of Irene is distressing to Raimunda, who did not have a good relationship with her mother, and correlates her with a time in which she suffered great anguish, sexual abuse from her father. The memory of her mother, as brought up by those around her, is not a comfort, but instead a haunting presence for Raimunda who prefers to conceal herself in the present. Eventually, it is revealed that Irene is in fact alive, and Raimunda’s sister, Sole, presents her to Raimunda. Her return causes Raimunda to confront her past, Irene is the embodiment of Raimunda’s unresolved emotions and trauma, and initially she meets this confrontation with shock and affliction. However, Irene apologizes and explains that she only learned of the abuse Raimunda endured from her father after it had taken place, and then killed him for what he did to Raimunda, and the adultery he committed against herself. This discovery allowed Raimunda to finally establish closure from her past, and forgive her mother instead of holding resentment toward her, with the conclusion of emotional reconciliation for both Raimunda and Irene. In Cría Cuervos, Ana’s mother also repeatedly appears to her, as a manifestation of Ana’s grief. Instead of shutting out her past, like Raimunda does in order to escape her trauma, Ana indulges in it as a source of comfort in her tragic life. The encounter of her mother, however, is not a shared occurrence like in Volver, but an experience which is individual to Ana. Her present reality is challenging for her to face, with the death of her mother, and under the care of her strict aunt to which she holds no affection, therefore, the ghost of her mother, allows Ana an escape. The first time her late mother appears to her is when Ana is in a moment of pure sadness and is crying because of the tragic circumstances she is living in, her mother appears to console her. However, the following two encounters Ana has with her late mother do not serve the explicit purpose to console Ana, Ana simply continues as she would if her mother were truly alive, having futile conversations with her, though the audience knows it is a figment of her imagination. Ana, being a very young and troubled girl, is unable to come to terms with the permanence of death, she finds solace in living in the memory of her mother, instead of dealing with reality. Unlike Raimunda, she is not able to find closure with her trauma at the conclusion of the film, instead Ana lives her childhood blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, the past and present. Both Saura and Almodóvar use the re-emergence of the protagonists' deceased mothers as a manifestation of grief, shaping their present experiences and choices. Regardless of the age, as Raimunda is well into adulthood and Ana is still a child, this serves to portray how grief is an ongoing process, not simply finite.
Murder plays a crucial role in both films as an act of defiance against patriarchal oppression. In Volver, Raimunda’s daughter, Paula, is sexually assaulted by her father figure Paco. In an act of self-defense Paula threatens to stab him, but when Paco persists, she actually does so, and he consequently dies. This is not the only act of murder in Volver, Paula’s grandmother, Irene, has also murdered a man, her own husband, Paula’s grandfather, because he was abusing Raimunda. In both instances, the act of murder was committed in order to end the abuse from a patriarchal figure. Almodóvar focuses on murder because it is the most drastic method of escaping, but he does not portray murder as an act of rage or revenge, but instead an act of protection for the women’s loved ones, eachother. In Cría Cuervos, Ana also uses murder as a tool to escape from her father, an oppressive figure who is emotionally unavailable, and causes anguish to Ana’s beloved mother. However, unlike Volver, the acts of murder committed by Ana are a figment of her imagination. She is convinced she can kill people with a powder poison, she used this powder on her father, and this act is followed by his death. The audience, though, knows that this powder is merely baking soda, and Ana is not actually killing anyone in the film. Nonetheless, Ana’s confidence that she does have the ability to murder whomever she chooses, without being caught, provides her with the relief that she is able to escape her oppressors, regardless of it being untrue. In both films, the female leads are powerless in patriarchal societies, and are victims of the male figures in their lives. Murder functions as a feminist act, displayed as empowering instead of malicious, in order to assert control and agency over their own lives and end the repression they face from men.
In both Volver and Cría Cuervos, the main cast is composed of female characters, focusing on protagonists Raimunda and Ana. In Volver, all of the female characters have estranged, or altogether lack, positive male relationships. All three generations of Raimunda’s family endured abuse from the prominent male figures in their lives, Raimunda and Paula experiencing sexual abuse from their fathers, and Irene experiencing emotional abuse from her husband. Therefore, the film places emphasis on their relationships with each other, instead of revolving around their relationships with men. The support Raimunda receives from the women in her life allow her to navigate the unfolding of complicated incidents, including the murder of her husband Paco, the death of her aunt Paula, and the reappearance of her mother. Without the network of women in her life, it would be impossible for Raimunda to succeed through this whirlwind of misfortunes, at each step of the way they help her. Sole, her sister, assists in taking care of her daughter and mother. Regina, her friend, helps her hide the body of her husband. Her daughter, Paula, provides her with emotional support and love all throughout the film. Volver makes it evident that female solidarity is essential for survival, and as she heals the relationships she has with the women in her life, Raimunda and her female relatives conclude the film happy and guilt-free. In Cría Cuervos, there is also an absence of positive male relationships. Ana has a detached and unaffectionate dynamic with her father, who she dislikes above all else. Though Ana’s father does not physically or sexually abuse her, he is emotionally neglectful to his daughters, and puts Ana’s mother through torment as he fails to provide her with love or excitement. At the death of her father, Ana is also left to rely on the female figures in her life for emotional support. However, Ana has much less favorable circumstances than Raimunda, as the death of her mother leaves her stern aunt as her substitute maternal figure. In her aunt, she is unable to find security in the circumstances which she faces, and is instead treated with more maltreatment and absence of love. The few moments of happiness Ana has within the film are with her sisters, with them, she is able to play and listen to music, providing momentary episodes of innocence and freedom, however, they do not seem to share Ana’s melancholy and resistance to reality. Ana, therefore, is left to navigate her trauma and sadness alone, and reinforces her isolation despite being among her family, she does not have the system of solidarity in her female relationships as Raimunda does. This difference causes the contrast in finale’s in both films, instead of concluding the film with closure and happiness, Saura’s ambiguous ending to Cría Cuervos may suggest that Ana is still kept in her confusing and tragic past, as opposed to moving on and living comfortably in the present.
Both Volver and Cría Cuervos use narrative elements to blur the boundaries between past and present, immersing the audience in the protagonists' emotional turmoil. The presence of ghosts in both films serves as a manifestation of grief, forcing Raimunda and Ana to confront their pasts in different ways—Raimunda ultimately finds closure and reconciliation, while Ana remains trapped in a cycle of loss and confusion. Murder, whether real or imagined, is presented as a tool of resistance against patriarchal oppression, granting the female characters a sense of agency in societies where they are otherwise powerless. Though the emphasis on female relationships is similar for both films, its portrayal differs greatly between the two. Volver highlights the power of solidarity among women, allowing Raimunda to heal and move forward, while Cría Cuervos underscore the isolating effects of trauma, leaving Ana without the emotional support necessary to escape her suffering. Through their unique aesthetic and narrative choices, Almodóvar and Saura create profound explorations of grief, trauma, and female resilience, revealing the complexities of survival in a world shaped by loss and patriarchal control.
Bibliography
Almodóvar, P. (Director). (2006). Volver [Film]. Sony Pictures Classics.
Saura, C. (Director). (1976). Cría Cuervos [Film]. José Luis Dibildos.
Scott, A. O. (2006). ‘The Darkest of Troubles in the Brightest of Colors’. The New
York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/movies/03volv.html
Smith, P. J. (2007). ‘Cría cuervos . . . : The Past Is Not Past’. The Criterion Collection
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/527-cria-cuervos-the-past-is-not-past
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