re:mote voices

Title:Mondays In The Sun [Los Lunes al Sol]
Cast: Javier Bardem, Luis Tosar, José Ángel Egido, Nieve de Medina, Enrique Villén, Celso Bugallo, Joaquín Climent, Aida Folch, Serge Riaboukine
Director: Fernando León de Aranoa

Mondays In The Sun follows a group of shipyard workers as they struggle to cope with redundancy. Management action has led to strikes; strikes have led to conflict, which makes what follows all the more difficult. At the core of the film we have five men – struggling to find money to support family, dealing with court cases as a result of the trouble, looking forward to marital collapse. With this kind of material this is not the most cheerful of films, though it does at times attempt to find some kind of black humour from events. The result is a decent enough film, which is reported to have done well in its native Spain. The performances are fine, the reliable Javier Bardem taking the lead. Regardless I can’t really work up a lot of enthusiasm about this film. While it is enjoyable enough, I can’t help but feel if this were a British film I wouldn’t be watching it at all.