"Volveréis" (the original title in Spanish) is a very unconventional movie whose characters don't want to make a fuss about their separation as a couple and therefore decide to take it all "the other way around" by organizing a joyful divorce party on the very first day of autumn.
While Ale and Alex seem to await this new season with some sort of expectation for their new life, the whole society (friends, family, work colleagues) puts up a resistance they were not expecting until they eventually doubt over this split up they were pretty sure of.
To turn a new leaf or to return to what they have always known and loved, that is the question the film will try to sort out.
First of all, the film features two fantastic actors, very accurate in their interpretation of a middle class couple in Madrid. Secondly I would say this film is undiscutably witty in its content but also in its direction with many echos to Jonas Truebas's (the director) life but also to philosophical issues. It will provide the spectator a revolutionary take on the couple as it turns the mores and stereotypes of a break-up with humor and optimism.
More precisely, it's an anthem to dialogue, to love, to respect. It's a modern tale about love, a modern point of you towards a break-up. In fact, its main characters barely ever fight or argue. The two of them respect each other at every step of their thinking despite the doubts that rise along and that are everywhere: in one look, one word , a specific place in Madrid or in one take.
This movie tackles the uncertainty, the sensation of being at a turning point of one's life . It also brings diferent shades of thoughts towards friendship, family and the "social pressure" felt in these occasions.
A complex thinking summed up in one simple sentence : "Volveréis".
Like a statement: For sure, you'll get back together
Or like a question: Aren't you going to get back together after all?
Two appreciations of one reality. Just like the verb "volver" which has two meanings: to turn (a leaf) or to return (go back).
Jonàs Trueba (the director), a smart and gifted director of the new Spanish generation delivers a reflexive movie which in fact has a lot of himself in it: like being in the film industry for some time (he's the son of Fernando Trueba a very famous Spanish director and the main characters are also in the cinema industry), about the middle-age crisis (I believe he's in his forties) and about being in a relationship after 15 years .
There are many references to Bergman, to Truffaut in his direction but also winks to his father (director himself) who happens to be a key character in this film as he's the father of Ale (the girl) but also the "father" of the (freaky) idea of celebrating separations!
This film is rare because it overflows with sincerity and it plays with its spectators. For instance, you can tell that Jonàs Trueba shares "out loud" so to speak with us his thinking over the relevance of his film during the edit of the film that the main characters struggle to finish just like their relationship they struggle to put to an end to ! Or when Alex (the other main character) is rehearsing one of his last chance of getting a job as an actor by making a declaration of love to Ale with whom he's trying to split !
There are echos of the past, reflections of their love story everywhere and at any time but also echos of Jonàs Trueba's life, or Jonas Trueba's cinematography.
To the question: are you happy ? One answers yes and the other says no, but both seem to regret their answer right after prononcing it !
This melancholic tone matches with the turning point they are living, this puzzling moment of their lives, as they must turn over a new leaf, start a new chapter, begin a new season exactly like this rather sad, uncertain and ending summer in Madrid.
Little by little, and thanks to the characters' personal journey, we understand that life is like editing a film, and everything could be turned upside down: the beginning can become and end, a seeming end could mean a new beginning, and ending summer can become a bright new fall, and with one's decision it can be all the other way around.
A beautiful, sometimes funny, constantly witty film, with lots of winks. I recommend !
