Penelope Cruz Actually Does Have Talent!

With my desire to practice Spanish before I leave, I decided that I would try watching the Almodovar flick Volver...without subtitles...which was an experience.

Given my ability to understand most of my Spanish-speaking teachers and friends at the UofC, I was hoping that I wouldn't have too much trouble following the film. But about 2 minutes into it, I realized that the accents of the Spanish actors/actresses are almost completely unintelligible to me. I pick up every other word, so that basically, while I can understand what they are talking about, I end up missing a lot of the key plot twists. Which for an Almodovar film poses a bit of a problem.

It didn't surprise me that it was a great film, as I've really enjoyed his other films like La Mala Educación and Todo Sobre Mi Madre. But I was really surprised that Penelope Cruz actually did quite a phenomenal job. I've pretty much despised her in any American film where she's been talking in English, because she has this nasal, high-pitched, girly voice that really gets on my nerves. But in Volver her voice was a deeper pitch and had a lot more emotion. A pleasant surprise, for sure, although my inability to understand the film, on the other hand, was not.

Oh well, that's why I'm going to Bolivia anyway, right?