Mondays in the Sun (2002) Los lunes al sol (original title)

Director:

Fernando León de Aranoa

Writers:

Fernando León de Aranoa (screenplay) and
Ignacio del Moral (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 September 2002 (Spain)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

This film is not based on a real story. It is based on thousands.

Plot:

This is the story of those who live in a constant Sunday, those who spend mondays under the Sun. The story of people who worked in a dockyard but now are unemployed.

Plot Keywords:

Bar | Shipyard | Australia | Drink | Peseta

Awards:

39 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Javier Bardem	...	Santa
Luis Tosar	...	Jose
José Ángel Egido	...	Lino (as José Angel Egido)
Nieve de Medina	...	Ana
Enrique Villén	...	Reina
Celso Bugallo	...	Amador
Joaquín Climent	...	Rico
Aida Folch	...	Nata
Serge Riaboukine	...	Serguei
Laura Domínguez	...	Ángela
Pepo Oliva	...	Samuel
Fernando Tejero	...	Lázaro
Andrés Lima	...	Abogado
Antonio Mourelos	...	Juez
César Cambeiro	...	Fiscal (as Cesar Cambeiro)
Antonio Durán 'Morris'	...	Director Banco (as Antonio Durán Morris)
Luis Zahera	...	Administrativo Astillero (as Luis Castro)
Luisa Martínez	...	Funcionaria INEM (as Maria Luisa Martínez)
Casilda García	...	Dueña Pensión
Mónica García	...	Mónica
Luisa Merelas	...	Mujer Lino
Pablo de la Fuente	...	Hijo Lino
Belén López	...	Hija Lino
Denis Gómez	...	Empleado Trasbordador
Miguel Borines	...	Encargado Conservera
Lois Soaxe	...	Compañero Conservera (as Lois Seaxe)
Isabel Cerviño	...	Secretaria Judicial
Pablo Vázquez	...	Niño del chalet
Talco	...	Bizco
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jesús Vázquez	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Fernando León de Aranoa

Writing credits
Fernando León de Aranoa		(screenplay) and
Ignacio del Moral		(screenplay)

Produced by
Andrea Occhipinti	....	co-producer
Elías Querejeta	....	producer
Jaume Roures	....	producer
Jérôme Vidal	....	co-producer (as Jerome Vidal)

Original Music by
Lucio Godoy

Cinematography by
Alfredo Mayo

Film Editing by
Nacho Ruiz Capillas

Casting by
Luis San Narciso

Production Design by
Julio Esteban

Costume Design by
Maiki Marín

Makeup Department
Eva Fontenla	....	assistant makeup artist (as Eva L. Fontenla)
Manolo García	....	make-up and hair
Carlos Hernández	....	make-up and hair

Production Management
Gregorio Hebrero	....	unit production manager
Alexandre Isidoro	....	post-production manager: France
Primitivo Álvaro	....	production manager (as Primitivo Alvaro)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
José Ángel Cabañas	....	second assistant director
Samuel del Moral	....	dga trainee
Marta Larralde	....	second second assistant director
Antonio Ordóñez	....	assistant director
José Manuel Quiroga	....	third assistant director
Xavier López Souto	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Virgilio Esteban	....	property master
Alexandra Fernández	....	assistant decorator (as Alejandra Fernández)
Miguel Fernández	....	props
Pablo González Teijeiro	....	painter
José Herrero Güénaga	....	construction coordinator
José Antonio Perozo	....	art assistant (as Xose Antón Perozo)
Luis Pombo	....	carpenter
Octavio Pérez Pimentel	....	second assistant decorator
Juan Luis Rodríguez	....	assistant property master
Jorge Santalla	....	art assistant
José Tojo 'Tojete'	....	painter (as José Tojo López)

Sound Department
Polo Aledo	....	sound
Susana Benito	....	assistant sound mixer
Alfonso Conceiro	....	sound assistant
Enrique Domínguez	....	assistant sound mixer
Patrick Ghislain	....	sound effects editor
Pierre Lorrain	....	sound
Alfonso Raposo	....	sound mixer
Maite Rivera	....	dialogue editor
Pierre Tucat	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Ricardo Spencer	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Ricardo G. Elipe	....	visual effects supervisor
Óscar Perea Marcos	....	visual effects operator (as Oscar Perea Marcos)
Jesús de Matos Zambrano	....	visual effects operator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jordi Abusada	....	second operator
Olga Carretero	....	still photographer
Juan Carrión	....	electrician
Javier Casado	....	electrician
Alberto Díaz Blanco	....	electrician
Antonio Fernández Santamaría	....	key grip (as Antonio F. Santamaría)
Daniel Fernández	....	second assistant camera
José Antonio Fernández	....	gaffer
Ricardo Llovo	....	video assist
Vicente Martín	....	still photographer
Emilio Martínez-Borso	....	camera trainee
David Melero	....	electrician
Santiago Zuazo	....	assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carmen Casal	....	costume assistant
Graciela Rubio	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
María José Almela	....	assistant editor
Carolina Martínez Urbina	....	positive assembler (as Carolina Martínez)
María Jesús Sánchez	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Bibiana Bergia	....	musical advisor
José Luis Crespo	....	music mixer
Lucía Cárdenas	....	music licensing (as Lucía Cárdenes)
Héctor García	....	assistant music mixer
Lucio Godoy	....	musician: guitar
Federico Lechner	....	musician: piano
Ara Malikian	....	musician: viola
Pablo Pimentel	....	assistant music mixer
José Antonio Romero	....	musician: electric guitar
José San Martín	....	musician: percussion
Juan San Martín	....	musician: bass

Transportation Department
Sergio Cozar Gil	....	driver: production car (as Sergio Gil)
Emilio Ruiz	....	driver: production car

Other crew
Mireille Andriampahita-Ranaïvo	....	production assistant: France (as Mireille Andriamplahita-Ranaivo)
Beatriz Arribe	....	production assistant
María Jesús Canales	....	accountant
Rafael Casado	....	dog handler
Carmen de Miguel	....	production coordinator: Galicia
Norma Fernández Gómez	....	production secretary (as Norma Fernández)
José Luis Gago	....	production assistant
Sergio Gil Alonso	....	production assistant
Elena Gil Nagel	....	script supervisor (as Elena Gil-Nagel Rein)
María Victoria Hebrero	....	production coordinator (as Marivi Hebrero)
Mar Ilundain	....	production secretary
Belén Laguna	....	production accountant
José Luis López	....	production accountant
Cruz Novillo	....	publicist
Alberto Pereira	....	promotion
José Manuel Peñafiel	....	payroll
Isabel Rodríguez	....	press attache: Encanto
Juan de Dios Serrano	....	administrative director
Javier Hugo Ercilla Stagnaro	....	production assistant (as Javier Ercilla)
Alberto Tomé	....	second production assistant
María L. Viéitez	....	production assistant (as María L. Vieitez)
Antonio Giménez	....	marketing (uncredited)
Francisco Sanchez Ortiz	....	marketing director (uncredited)
Germán Sela	....	marketing coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Sergio Aguero	....	very special thanks (as Sergio Agüero)
Yolanda Aguiar Castro	....	thanks
Gusa Alonso-Pimentel	....	thanks (as Gusa Pimentel)
Carlos Asorey	....	very special thanks
Manuel Camacho	....	very special thanks (as Manolo Camacho)
Jesús Fernández Iglesias	....	thanks
Cirenia Lamela	....	very special thanks
Ángel Luis Lara	....	very special thanks
Javier Liñán	....	very special thanks
Patricia de Muns	....	very special thanks
Guadalupe Murillo Solís	....	thanks
José María Olaizola	....	very special thanks (as José Mari Olaizola)
Cristina Palés	....	very special thanks
Rolando Pardo	....	very special thanks
Claudio Rodríguez	....	very special thanks
Lola Salvador	....	very special thanks
Roberto Santiago	....	very special thanks
Pablo Sanz	....	very special thanks
Javier Tamarit	....	very special thanks

Production Companies

• Sogepaq
• Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.
• Mediapro
• Quo Vadis Cinéma
• Eyescreen S.r.l.
• Televisión de Galicia (TVG) S.A.
• Vía Digital
• Antena 3 Televisión
• Eurimages
• Continental Producciones
• Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA)

Distributors

• Alfa Films (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Colifilms Distribution (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Lucky Red (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Piffl Medien (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Lions Gate Films (2003) (North America) (subtitled)
• Orlando Films
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (VHS)
• absolut MEDIEN (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Molina Efectos Especiales

Other Companies

• Exa S.A.  sound studio

Also Known As:

"Los lunes al sol" - Spain (original title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Spain | France | Italy

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Brazil:14 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Ireland:15A | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | UK:15 | USA:R | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Gijón, Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

Company:

Sogepaq

Quotes:

Santa:What day is today?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in No lo llames amor... llámalo X (2011)

Soundtrack:

La Mer

Poignant and Realistic

No film has ever captured the depression and delight of the ordinary working man as realistically as "Mondays in the Sun". Watching it brought me back to the gray days of growing up when I would see my father's tired face and wonder what joy he can possibly be getting that pulls him through the pressure filled, cold and seemingly endless cycle of working hard day in, day out.

Javier Bardem plays the not-ever-to-be-defeated Santa, a strong-willed, but down on his luck guy who just got laid off from a comfortable job at a shipyard. He takes refuge in a buddy's bar with all his friends/co-workers who share the same misfortune. On top of all the problems anchoring him down, Santa must pay a hefty fine for destroying a light by the shipyard. For one week, he tries to run from these injustices and bothers, and he sojourns with his dreams.

What director Fernando Leon de Aranoa understands is that no matter how much joy we can have in a given amount of time, there is always the weight of work and responsibility to come back to. In the dreary life of the working man, things gets so routine that the magic of being young and having dreams is lost and gone forever. Aranoa's characters are all faced with the joy and bad luck of being unemployed. In this short time of pressure and paradise, they find escape and salvation in what seems like a limbo of meaninglessness. One of the film's best characters is a surreal, random friend of someone in the group who claims he was once an astronaut. By looking into his starry eyes, it is easy for the viewer to understand that this group of people have all found release in dreaming about getting to leave the earth as well.

It may not amount to the world, but I loved "Mondays in the Sun" because it knows the ordinary joys and pains of those struggling in the lower or middle class. What is truly beautiful about this film is how all of the characters seem at their most desperate, but somehow there is the assurance that maybe the light is not out forever.

(3 out of 4)