zolaaar 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.

Claudio Carvalho 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")

Rodolfo Soriano Núñez The movie is well done. Bardem plays nicely his role. And the rest of the cast is superb. It is a good exploration of the plight of workers in European inner-cities (although it could be set in any city in Ohio)after the deindustrialization of these areas. Good to understand male's attitudes to the loss of blue-collar jobs, and the female's take on their desperation. It is Spain's answer to the Full Monty. But be advised, with the exception of a few dark jokes Bardem is able to crack and his flirts with two of the characters, the movie is sad and blue, characters live in desperate situations with little or not hope to get out, even if at the end there is a thin ray of hope for one of the families involved, so there is no trace of The Full Monty's festive take on the plight of workers.

Brian This is a great movie about middle aged men being put out to pasture. The movie actually is a film rather than a verbal story glued to a bunch of special effects. The story is told by the focus of the camera, the objects pictured, and a tilt of a head, rather than by a bunch of talking. This is what film is about. Thank God the Europeans didn't forget it. To a large extent, American filmakers have. If you like movies about the human experience that give you fresh insight, see this movie. It is to film what "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" is to poetry. Except that the main character struggles to remain a strong and virile man in the face of emasculaing business, while Prufrock was more of a frightened person in the face of discovering his mediocrity.