Lundi matin

The film's main character is fed up with his dreary life, that's why he decides to give up everything, his wife, kids and his job for a few weeks away during which he'll be able to smoke and drink to forget his condition and finds himself again.

He claims his right for smoking after such a long time of deprivation. Smoking becomes an act of rebellion and numerous are the characters who act that way. Quite funny. The whole film is a comedy as most of the cast is singular and absolutely ludicrous.

But what could have been a nice film becomes more or less wasted by the director unability to give substance to his characters whom he forgets without any reason. What happens to the main protagonist's wife and kids for almost an hour is just a mystery. Frustrating and needless as they first appeared as leading parts.

And the direction is so primary and limited!

Why does that film last two hour is another mystery as it finally brings us nothing upsetting, except a few really funny moments.

The cinematography is very nice, with vivid shots of Venice and the french countryside, and the characters have the potential to be quite interesting. But the characters are about 80% developed to the point where we'd really care about them, and the whole thing doesn't tie together very well. Plus the pace is maddeningly slow. Message to the director: We get the point! It's hard for me to hate this film, but I can't rave about it either.

This is a funny, quirky comedy. It is a meditation on work, its rewards and frustrations. A welder in a large, repellent factory gives in to his original ambition of being a painter, and takes off for Venice.

There's a lot of oddball behavior. The story is not terrifically linear, and it's not clear what the main character has learned at the end of his voyage. But you do get to spend time with some charming eccentrics in offbeat situations. And afterward you can puzzle out exactly why the characters behaved the way they did.

It's abominable that this film was never seen in the US. Too many good international movies simply don't make it to our side of the ocean. We can hope that the medium of DVD will improve matters, but this little gem of a picture for one fell right through the cracks.

This movie tells the story of factory worker living somewhere in the French countryside. He has a wife and two kids who do not really love him, so one day he goes for a trip to Italy where he meets some buddies and drinks a lot. At the end he is coming back to his village. Thats about it, the story is sometimes interesting to follow as the characters are real, but it is also boring at times. Absolutely no movie for the typical blockbuster audience.

This great film by Ioseliani was reviewed by many amateurs on this site, and, perhaps, that is why, I'm writing this short review. What Ioseliani offers is not simply a social commentary or an act of rebellion against every day life, but an evocative examination of monotonous, lonely state of being deprived of basic human necessities(such as friends... and so many other elements.) Characters are lonely despite of their social standings and "forbidding" rules oppress everybody, as well.("No smoking" at factories, "no drinking" in households and so on.) In this film everything is done for a reason and everything makes sense; if some reviewers don't think so, I would suggest them to watch the film one more time or to start writing reviews for other films... there are so many on this website.