Los lunes al sol

The Spanish ensemble film Los lunes al sol / Mondays in the Sun deals with a group of former workers who lost their jobs after the factory had to close. Every day they meet in a pub, worrying about future, money and problems in the family.

The film has great actors and the director does a terrific job in leading their performances in the most effective way. De Aranoa seems to have a perfect sense for timing, manifested in an inconspicuous but efficient cut. The well pointed, rough and bare dialogues come along as a subtle social criticism. De Aranoa surely can rely on his affectionate, wonderful figuration of the truly believable characters, and the shining, utterly charismatic Javier Bardem proves in here again that he is the doubtlessly best Spanish actor today.

February, 2001 says the calendar inside the wharf-side bar; Rico splashes out the drinks and his precocious 15 year-old daughter Nata (Aïda Folch) looks on, absorbing the intensity of fiery language: her father's customers are unemployed boat-yard workers, drifters over forty, approaching fifty.

Fernando León de Aranoa, basing himself on the real lay-offs which happened in the boatyards of Gijón (Asturias) ten years earlier, and indeed using footage from newsreports, reconstructed his own story and transferred the proceedings to Vigo (Galicia) in the extreme north-west of Spain. The resulting `Los Lunes al Sol' is a social document portraiting a few men `on the dole' and their sombre outlook, however not lacking in sparkling humour and witty dialogues.

The year 2002 will be remembered as the year of `Hable con Ella' (qv) and `Los Lunes al Sol', a year in which mostly men take first place on the screen, moving the ladies to one side. Heroically, considering Spanish masculine mentality, there is no macho-building exercise in force in either of these two excellent films. The two films have competed head-on at the San Sebastián film festival, as well as in the Spanish Film Academy to be chosen to represent Spain for the Oscars, and so on, and have come out more or less level. If my personal preference is Almodóvar's superb dramatical piece, this in no way deflects from `Lunes al Sol', a magnificent sociological drama which even manages to creep in to certain foibles and other typicalisations without any cheapening effect which would have been detrimental to the telling of the story.

Javier Bardem is superb and magnificently backed up by Luis Tosar and José Angel Egido, and there are no superlatives for Celso Bugallo's lesser but extremely important part as Amador. Joaquín Climent as the bar-owner Rico is absolutely correct, and the Russian Serge Riaboukine is spot on. And the ladies ……….? Well, definitely in secondary roles, but Nieve de Medina as the suffering wife – Ana – working in the sea-food canning plant gives a resounding interpretation, and Laura Domínguez as Angela is fine. But all eyes are fascinated by fifteen year old Aïda Folch as the precocious daughter, who observes all and learns from it, and applies her own methods to reach her own goals. She gets a baby-sitting job, hires `Santa' to do the job for her, so that he pockets 3,000 pesetas (about $20), she keeps 2.000 pesetas as commissions, and hops off to seek out her boyfriend. In her other film, `El Embrujo de Shanghai' (qv), alongside Fernando Tielve, directed by Fernando Trueba, we see she has that natural coquettish way which is going to take her very very far in the world of cinematography. I only hope she stays in Spain to do so, she keeps her beautiful little head well and truly planted on her shoulders, and does not suddenly disappear over the other side of the Atlantic, as so often happens to our prodigies.

You come away from this film feeling that you have barely ever seen a team pull so hard together to make the result work: the film has a significant message to transmit and it had to do so through skillfully worked characteriology driven by dialogues that shift from the retrospective to the witty, through scenes that move from outright funny to downright sad. It works: the Spanish public identify with these `real' characters and natural language replete with non-dictionary spicey terms, as these men live out their empty, frustrating life of unemployment.

Excellent work here by the young director Fernando León de Aranoa: I shall be looking forward to seeing more of his films, and no doubt I shall acquire the video of `Los Lunes al Sol' as soon as it is in the shops.

In an industrial city in Spain, five unemployed middle-aged friends daily meet in a bar, whose owner was also a former employee of the local shipyard, for drinking and small talk. Santa (Javier Barden) is their rebel leader, who dreams to move to Australia, and is being sued by the owner of the shipyard for breaking a 8,000 pesetas light. The insecure José (Luis Tosar) feels inferiority complex of his wife Ana (Nieve the Medina), who is supporting their home with a temporary work in a tuna can factory. Paulino (José Ángel Egido) is permanently trying to find a job through unsuccessful applications. The Russian Serguei (Serge Riaboukine) studied in Soviet Union to be an astronaut and seems to accept his life status. The depressed Amador (Celso Bugallo) misses his wife, who left him some time ago. For all of them, each jobless idle day looks like a Sunday.

"Los Lunes al Sol" is a bitter and sad worldwide contemporary story, with magnificent performances. I am marine engineer and Rio de Janeiro is the greatest Brazilian pole of naval construction. In the 80's and 90's, I saw many people of this sector, including friends and colleagues, losing their jobs and many of them changing their professions with the crisis in this sector. This type of situation happened in many other economical sectors, and Brazil has presently about a ten percent unemployment rate. I feel very sorrow for those who lost their jobs, and the large number of street vendors and slums in my hometown, associated to very low wages, reflect our present situation. The universe of Santa and his friends may be extended too to many other countries and sectors of the economy, therefore it is very easy to sympathize and understand the drama of the characters. This impressive film is also very well directed and watching it is a worthwhile experience, mainly for the younger generations. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Segunda-Feira ao Sol" ("Monday in the Sun")

I watch 'Mondays in the sun' last night and it impressed me really... Sorry guys but I usually prefer European-especially Mediterranean ones- movies much more than Hollywood productions... Like some of the others, there is a simple story there but very sincere and sensitive, that makes you feel deep inside...After watching any movie, I would like to feel the taste for some days...Sometimes you can easily forget what you have watched in several hours, but those kind of movies makes me feel something warm deep inside even it's dramatic athmosphere... Also the soundtrack is wonderful... For me it is a five-star production... Thanks so much for all who made it... (A+)

"Mondays in the Sun" speaks boldly, loudly, and honestly albeit narrowly about the plaintive existence of a group jobless Spanish shipyard workers. What this study of working class men lacks in depth of story it makes up for in depth of character as it moves methodically through bitter, sweet, poignant, and humorous moments with sincerity, honesty, and drenched in masculinity. With high marks from public and critical corners alike, "Mondays in the Sun" will be time well spent for most. (B+)