MONDAYS IN THE SUN

A powerful parable about work and the lack of it, MONDAYS IN THE SUN is a tough-but-tender film about three men sacked from a shipyard in Vigo, in northern Spain, and what they do with their lives to fill this enormous void. Javier Bardem (Before Night Falls) cements his star status as Santa, a bearish, indignant man with a heart of gold; he is the center of the story. He and his friends Jose and Lino wander aimlessly, drink in a shabby bar, go on fruitless job interviews, and chatter the way men do who have time to talk in circles. Jose's relationship with his wife deteriorates while Santa has a casual affair with a woman he picks up in a supermarket, as well as a frank attraction to a 15-year-old tuna factory worker. He dreams of escaping to Australia, but has to stay in town for a court case after breaking a lamp post. A film about social absurdities and shipwrecked lives, the film quietly depicts life in a post-industrial world, taking cues from British director Ken Loach. The ugly, post-industrial urban landscape is punctuated by an appropriately gray, lowering sky. Winner of the Best Film Award at the 2002 San Sebastian Film Festival. (In Spanish with English subtitles)