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The film Volver a nacer ("Twice Born"), starring Penélope Cruz, is a powerful melodrama set against the backdrop of the Bosnian war. The story revolves around Gemma, an Italian woman, who takes her 16-year-old son Pietro to Sarajevo, where his father Diego, a photographer, died during the conflict.

The plot delves deeply into the passionate romance between Gemma and Diego, which is complicated by their struggles with infertility. Desperate to have a child, they make heart-wrenching choices. The film shifts between past and present, as Gemma returns to Sarajevo years after the war at the invitation of a friend, Gojko. She is forced to confront the trauma of her past, buried memories, and a shocking revelation about the war and the full extent of her personal loss.

Volver a nacer is a mix of love, life, and the horrors of war, bringing out emotional performances, especially from Cruz, and offers a reflection on resilience in the face of tragedy.

In Volver a nacer ("Twice Born"), the narrative structure alternates between two timelines: the past, where Gemma's love story with Diego unfolds, and the present, where she returns to Sarajevo years after the war. This back-and-forth between the two time periods allows the audience to slowly piece together the complexities of Gemma’s experiences and emotions.

In the past, we witness the intense love between Gemma and Diego, a passionate Italian-American couple, and their longing to start a family. Their romance, however, is overshadowed by the devastating reality of their inability to conceive a child. This struggle is central to their relationship and leads them to make desperate decisions, including turning to unconventional means to have a baby. Their lives become intertwined with the political and military turmoil of Sarajevo during the 1992 Bosnian War, as they attempt to navigate both their personal heartbreak and the chaos around them.

In the present timeline, Gemma, now a mother to her teenage son Pietro, is invited by Gojko, an old friend from Sarajevo, to revisit the city. Gojko had been a significant figure in her life during the war, and his invitation stirs emotions Gemma thought she had buried long ago. As she returns to the war-torn city with Pietro, memories of the traumatic events from her past resurface. Walking through the streets of Sarajevo—once devastated by conflict—she is forced to confront the emotional and psychological scars that she has carried with her for years.

As the story progresses, the full extent of Gemma's personal loss is revealed through a devastating twist. The return to Sarajevo brings to light long-hidden secrets and truths about her life during the war. What initially seems like a journey of remembrance turns into a confrontation with the horrors she endured. The audience learns the truth about how the war affected not only her relationship with Diego but also the origins of her son. This revelation adds layers of tragedy to her story, highlighting the brutal impact of war on human lives and relationships.

Through this narrative device of shifting between past and present, the film explores the lingering effects of war, the fragility of love, and the depths of human resilience in the face of unimaginable loss.

In Volver a nacer ("Twice Born"), the origins of Gemma's son, Pietro, are central to the emotional depth of the story and the film's tragic twist. While Pietro was raised by Gemma as her son, he was not biologically hers or Diego's.

The couple's intense desire to have a child, coupled with Gemma's infertility, led them to explore extreme measures to conceive. Desperate, they turn to surrogacy as a solution. However, the circumstances under which this surrogacy takes place are marked by the horror of war.

During the siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War, Gemma and Diego seek help from their friend Gojko, who introduces them to a local woman, Aska. In an act of desperation and amidst the violent chaos, Aska becomes the surrogate for their child. However, the process is tainted by tragedy. Diego dies during the war, and Aska becomes the biological mother of Pietro, conceived through rape by soldiers, which adds an immensely painful layer to the child's origins.

When Gemma returns to Sarajevo years later, she is confronted with the haunting truth of how Pietro came into the world and the violence that Aska endured. Despite raising Pietro as her own, Gemma must come to terms with the fact that his biological mother is Aska and that his conception was tied to the brutal realities of war. This revelation brings a deeper emotional weight to Gemma’s story, highlighting the devastating effects of war on individuals, families, and the very fabric of human relationships.

The film thus explores themes of motherhood, trauma, and the moral complexities faced during times of conflict, ultimately showing the lengths people will go to in pursuit of love and family, even in the darkest of times.

The origins of Pietro, Gemma's son in Volver a nacer ("Twice Born"), are indeed complex, and they reflect the emotional and moral struggles of the characters. Let's break it down clearly:

1. Gemma is Pietro's adoptive mother, but not his biological mother. Due to her infertility, she and Diego could not conceive a child on their own.

2. Diego, Gemma’s husband, is not Pietro's biological father. Although the couple desperately wanted to have a child together, Diego's role is as Pietro's emotional and adoptive father.

3. Aska is Pietro's biological mother. She was the woman chosen to be the surrogate during the Bosnian War, and she becomes pregnant. However, the tragic twist is that Aska did not conceive Pietro through a medical procedure or planned surrogacy.

4. Pietro's biological father is an unknown soldier. Aska was raped during the war, and Pietro was conceived as a result of this horrific act.

Thus, Aska is the biological mother, and the soldier (whose identity remains unknown in the film) is the biological father. However, emotionally and legally, Gemma and Diego are the ones who raise Pietro as their own.

This tragic background ties the theme of war's brutality to personal loss and trauma, which Gemma must come to terms with when she uncovers the full truth during her return to Sarajevo.