Mondays in the Sun

Colour, 35 mm
Spain, France, Italy, 2002, 113 min
Section: Horizons - Awarded films
Oficiální stránky: www.loslunesalsol.com

Synopsis

A seaside town in the north. A group of friends linked by the same fate meets daily at the local bar. Three years ago they lost their jobs during mass layoffs at the local shipyard. They constantly try to maintain their balance on a tightrope of occasional earnings, wasting time in the unemployment office’s long lines while waiting for their Mondays in the Sun. The wait, however, seems all too hopeless. They suspect that the road to everyday survival lies in another direction, but out of professional pride and principal some refuse the solution that two of them have already chosen. With his severance pay, Rico opened the bar where they meet, and Reina found a job as a night watchmen at a construction site. Located next to a stadium, the site provides his friends with a free vantage point for watching Sunday afternoon soccer games, although the fact that he has a job isolates him somewhat from the others. For Santa, José, Lino and Amador, who felt at home on the docks, the loss of work means losing their lifestyle, the sense of their lives, and their relationships. The single Santa now dreams of emigrating to the antipodes, José is dealing with a marriage crisis, and the oldest, lonely Amador, is drinking his life away at the others’ expense. Only Lino still tries to change his lot, dressing in a clean shirt and a borrowed suit every day….

About the director

Fernando León de Aranoa (b. 1968, Madrid) graduated in film image and sound from Madrid’s Universidad Complutense. He has worked as an illustrator, television series writer, and screenwriter (e.g. Fausto 5.0, Insomnia, Los hombres siempre mienten). Caminantes (2001) took the Coral Prize at the 23rd Havana Film Festival. Feature films: Familia (1996, selected awards: a Goya for Best Director, the Audience Award and FIPRESCI Prize at the 41st Valladolid IFF, a Gold Medal for Best Film at the Houston IFF, Best Film at the Miami Latin Film Festival), Barrio (1998, selected awards: 1999 Goyas for Best Director and Original Screenplay, Golden Shells for Best Director and Screenplay, the Film Writers’ Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 46th San Sebastian IFF, the Fotogramas Prize for Best Film of the Year). Mondays in the Sun (2002) is his third film.