Mondays In The Sun (Los Lunes al sol) êêê Rated R
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Reviewed by Joseph Mark Davis
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Directed by Fernando Leon de Aranda
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This film is not based on a real story. It is based on thousands.
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I went to see "Mondays In The Sun" in my favorite manner for seeing great films, and that is by knowing nothing about it going into the theater. I came away thinking that I hadn't seen a group of such loveable losers since "Inside Moves."
This is a Spanish film that will resonate well in America, given the current state of unemployment faced by so many. In this case, a shipyard closes in a coastal town in Spain, sending the shipbuilding jobs to the cheaper labor ports of Korea.
The film follows the lives of a small group of Spanish men who have each, in various ways, reacted to and been impacted by the closing of their shipyard. The leader is Santa played by Javier Bardem. He has remained unemployed since the closing of the shipyard. He gets through life by stiffing just about everybody from the ferry boy to his friend the bartender, who owns a small bar where they all hang out on a regular basis. He faces an inevitable debt that he must pay for a streetlight that he destroyed during demonstrations against the plant closing. The cost of replacing the street lamp happens to be the exact amount of his severance pay, so he fights the charges in court until he has exhausted his legal appeals. He dreams about a better life in Australia as he whittles away his time.
His friends face dilemmas of their own. Two have marriages that are in jeopardy over the lack of income. Only the bartender has a sense of purpose and stability. Thanks to the purchase of his bar he is able to provide for himself and his sassy 15-year-old daughter, who hangs around the bar and flirts with Santa, constantly looking for trouble. In one scene she coaxes Santa to cover for her at a baby-sitting job. He readily accepts because he needs the money so badly. He then quickly invites his buddies over so that they can live in opulence at the expense of the unsuspecting couple. They drink the family's whisky, steal the wife's shoes and occasionally check on the little boy that they are supposed to be caring for. While the kid sits on the couch with the remote control, the adults sit outside on the patio arguing that they should all split the 3,000 pesetas that Santa will get from the 15-year- old.
I found this film to be an enjoyable experience, despite the misery and the grim outlook of many of its characters. It will give American audiences pause for thought, as the film is as relevant for shipbuilders as it is for laid off "dot com" business development people.
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Rated R for language
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Joseph Mark Davis Ó 2003
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