The intitial and most obvious similarities between the Allendes’, House Of the Spirits, and Almodóvar’s, Volver, would be there ties to magical realism. In Allendes novel Clara and here children provide the magic into the novel with their supernatural telekinetic powers. As for Almodóvar’s film it is the ghost of Irene, a deceased matriarch, who brings about a spiritual aspect into the film.
Another similarities that these two authors share in their works are their building of female characters. Roger Ebert states that Almódovar’s film is, “paying tribute to the women who raised them (the characters).” His scholarly review only provides further evidence to the authors similar use of strong female characters.
One instance of this comes with the character, Raimnuda, Paula’s daughter. A.O. Scott describes Raimunda as, “a hardworking woman pulled in every direction by the needs of the women around her.” Upon reading this I can’t help but think of two characters from Allende’s novel; Nivea and Ferula.
Nivea is constantly sacrificing her time for the needs of her daughters, and even her husbands and his far out political ambitions. She caters to the needs of her daughters selflessly in order to steer Clara in the right direction.
Though the plot of these stories differs greatly, through the authors’ character development and inclusion of magical realism readers can find many similarities.
Ebert, Roger. Volver (film review) , http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/volver-2006, Internet article. Nov. 21, 2006. RobertEbert.com
Scott, A.O. The darkest troubles in the brightest of colors, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/03/movies/03volv.html?_r=0, Nov. 3, 2006. The New York Times, Internet article
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