Mondays in the Sun

Starring:Javier Bardem, Luis Tosar, JosÃ© Ãngel Egido, Nieve de Medina, Enrique VillÃ©n, Celso Bugallo, JoaquÃn Climent, Aida Folch, Serge Riaboukine, Laura DomÃnguez, Pepo Oliva, Fernando Tejero, AndrÃ©s Lima, CÃ©sar Cambeiro, Antonio DurÃ¡n 'Morris', Luis Castro (IV), MarÃa Luisa MartÃnez, Casilda GarcÃa, MÃ³nica GarcÃa, Luisa Merelas
Director: Fernando LeÃ³n de Aranoa
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
Without gainful employment, every day becomes Sunday. For many, daily existence is propped up by the scaffolding of hope and camaraderie. Follow six friends in northern Spain as they struggle to make ends meet

System Requirements:

running Time 109 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Average customer rating:

`All that we were told about communism was a lie', `but the worst thing is that all we were told about capitalism was true'
Sterling acting, shallow story
The story of the losers
A truly great movie and A dark comedy indeed
The vain hope of redemption

Mondays in the Sun
Starring: Javier Bardem , Luis Tosar , José Ángel Egido , Nieve de Medina , and Enrique Villén
Director: Fernando León de Aranoa
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000CBXZ3
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Product Description

Without gainful employment, every day becomes Sunday. For many, daily existence is propped up by the scaffolding of hope and camaraderie. Follow six friends in northern Spain as they struggle to make ends meet

System Requirements:

running Time 109 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

`All that we were told about communism was a lie', `but the worst thing is that all we were told about capitalism was true'.......2005-09-21

"Mondays in the Sun", directed by Fernando León de Aranoa, is a movie where not much happens. Despite that, it is worthwhile seeing, and remembering...

Why?. Because it tells us the story of a group of friends, former workers in a shipyard, who were sacked from their jobs and are unemployed. The spectators will watch them look repeatedly and uselessly for a new job, and deal with being unemployed and old in a society where most jobs are for young people. As a result, viewers are likely to realize that having a job isn't only about earning money, but also part of who we are, to a certain extent. And in the case of most of these men, their identities are in need of a redefinition that gives their lives new meaning.

This story takes place in Spain, but it could have been set in many other places. "Mondays in the Sun" is a film about unemployment and friendship, and those are things that are everywhere. As such, you are highly unlikely to find the message of this movie irrelevant. Even if you have a job (and that is my case), you probably know that some people don't, and that they suffer the consequences of that lack.

It is pertinent to point out that this isn't a film that will make you laugh. It is somewhat gloomy at times, and the actors play well the roles of people on the edge, eager to strike out at whomever is near them. Santa (Javier Bardem) is specially impressive as a man who doesn't have a clue regarding what to do with himself now that he doesn't have a job.

Another of the characters of this story is Serguei (Serge Riaboukine), a former Russian astronaut who is in Spain looking for a job. Serguei tells the others a joke: "Two old party comrades meet and one says `All that we were told about communism was a lie'. The other says `Yes, but the worst thing is that all we were told about capitalism was true'. In that silly joke, said by chance, we can find the root of the problem that aflicts these men...

Truth to be told, "Mondays in the Sun" tells us what happens to those left behind by capitalism. Of course, capitalism is not always good, but all the other systems are even worse. However, that doesn't mean we can deny that our system has problems that must be solved. This movie gets that point across powerfully, and because of that I highly recommend it.

Belen Alcat

Sterling acting, shallow story.......2004-11-13

The story is imbued with the European mindset that people are owed a job and a meaningful life by either businesses or the government. Those who accept that view sacrifice their responsibility, and therefore a chunk of their humanity. So, the characters in this film hobble along rather pathetically and childishly, waiting for someone to restart their lives. Bardem is a fine actor, and the others do well, but this is a slight film offering no useful insights. It stands in stark contrast to films by the great director, Zhang Yimou, whose characters inhabit far more difficult conditions, but who struggle mightily to overcome the odds and maintain their pride. As one of the characters hints when slandering Koreans, a Europe awash in the welfare state has much to fear from industrious workers from Asia and elsewhere.

The story of the losers.......2004-10-06

I cannot say I liked this film. The thing is that actors are great, story is developed calmly but not too slowly. Some scenes are plenty of interesting "messages".

For all of this, "Mondays in the Sun" is fantastic. What is the problem? The problem is the story itself. You can use best actors, best studios, best screenplay. But when the story is plain and gives you no new point of view of a well-known work conflict, you have the sensation you have been not a film, not even a documental, but an article in a TV magazine.

This film has been overprized and overpraised here in Spain. We have terrible work conflicts, and some of them have to do with naval industry. I think this film is very superficial because it shows dismissed workers as losers but happy. And those who have earned a life and have raised from nothing are shown as naive and sad.

And so this is not a good message for young people trying to earn for a life.

A truly great movie and A dark comedy indeed.......2004-02-08

I picked this movie out as I browsed the shelves at the local video store where I usually spend one hour each visit searching for a good film. Sadly, great films are hard to come by and usually now come from abroad. The movie's sequences range from somber to hilarious and for those who speak Spanish, the film is especially enjoyable. The acting is quite well done and the cast portrays the life of six unemployed friends for whom everyday is the same as the day before. The bar which they frequent is an excellent backdrop for the friendly bickering that goes on between the men. For those who seek a truly enthralling foregin film, "Mondays in the Sun" is a must and I certainly plan to buy the DVD and add this wonderful film to my collection.

The vain hope of redemption.......2004-01-20

"Mondays in the Sun" by Fernando León de Aranoa. Is a film which, as many critics have noted, revolves around Rico's Bar. It is the space where the defeat, its memory and the personal and collective failures represented by the laying off of shipyard workers in a town in Spain's Galicia region takes place. The bar, however, is more than anything a metaphor for the desolation of the present of the squalor of forced `relaxation' and of the immobility of time, which is lived in the vain hope of a redemption. The bar, set up by Rico - one of the laid off workers - serves as the place of exile where the former workers develop their survival strategies. Anyone whó has ever felt the pain of unemployemnt, teh depressing effect it has on persoanl relationships and self esteem should watch this film. I found it truly remarkable and features a wonderful performance by Javier Bardem as 'Santa', an actor who often tackles social issues. the film will apeal to anyone who appreciates the cinema of Ken Loach, as it deals with the very themes that characterize the great British director's work. I saw the film in the origianl Spanish, and if you have to get a subtitle edition or wyou will miss great perfomances. Perhaops the most striking thing, in my opinion, in the film is a simple line pronounced by Sergei, a Russian emigré character who says: "They told us wonderful things about communism and they were all false. They told us horrible things about capitalism, and they're all true". This apparently simple line speaks volumes about the film and its portrayal of what is one of the saddest aspects of modern life in a society that is losing all idealism

Los Lunes Al Sol (Mondays in the Sun) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]

Average customer rating:

Los Lunes Al Sol (Mondays in the Sun) [NTSC/REGION 1 & 4 DVD. Import-Latin America]
Director: Fernando Leon de Aranda
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000JTND8I

Los Lunes al Sol (Edicion Especial) [Region 2 Import - Spain]

Average customer rating:

Los Lunes al Sol (Edicion Especial) [Region 2 Import - Spain]

Manufacturer: Manga Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

Special Edition
Commentaries
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Interviews

ASIN: B000HJBFO4

Product Description

Without gainful employment, every day becomes Sunday. For many, daily existence is propped up by the scaffolding of hope and comraderie. Follow six friends in northern Spain as they struggle to make ends meet.

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