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 Spanish Movie (2009)

Soundtrack:

Tema de amor

A hard time we had of it, just the worst time

February, 2001 says the calendar inside the wharf-side bar; Rico splashes out the drinks and his precocious 15 year-old daughter Nata (Aïda Folch) looks on, absorbing the intensity of fiery language: her father's customers are unemployed boat-yard workers, drifters over forty, approaching fifty.

Fernando León de Aranoa, basing himself on the real lay-offs which happened in the boatyards of Gijón (Asturias) ten years earlier, and indeed using footage from newsreports, reconstructed his own story and transferred the proceedings to Vigo (Galicia) in the extreme north-west of Spain. The resulting `Los Lunes al Sol' is a social document portraiting a few men `on the dole' and their sombre outlook, however not lacking in sparkling humour and witty dialogues.

The year 2002 will be remembered as the year of `Hable con Ella' (qv) and `Los Lunes al Sol', a year in which mostly men take first place on the screen, moving the ladies to one side. Heroically, considering Spanish masculine mentality, there is no macho-building exercise in force in either of these two excellent films. The two films have competed head-on at the San Sebastián film festival, as well as in the Spanish Film Academy to be chosen to represent Spain for the Oscars, and so on, and have come out more or less level. If my personal preference is Almodóvar's superb dramatical piece, this in no way deflects from `Lunes al Sol', a magnificent sociological drama which even manages to creep in to certain foibles and other typicalisations without any cheapening effect which would have been detrimental to the telling of the story.

Javier Bardem is superb and magnificently backed up by Luis Tosar and José Angel Egido, and there are no superlatives for Celso Bugallo's lesser but extremely important part as Amador. Joaquín Climent as the bar-owner Rico is absolutely correct, and the Russian Serge Riaboukine is spot on. And the ladies ……….? Well, definitely in secondary roles, but Nieve de Medina as the suffering wife – Ana – working in the sea-food canning plant gives a resounding interpretation, and Laura Domínguez as Angela is fine. But all eyes are fascinated by fifteen year old Aïda Folch as the precocious daughter, who observes all and learns from it, and applies her own methods to reach her own goals. She gets a baby-sitting job, hires `Santa' to do the job for her, so that he pockets 3,000 pesetas (about $20), she keeps 2.000 pesetas as commissions, and hops off to seek out her boyfriend. In her other film, `El Embrujo de Shanghai' (qv), alongside Fernando Tielve, directed by Fernando Trueba, we see she has that natural coquettish way which is going to take her very very far in the world of cinematography. I only hope she stays in Spain to do so, she keeps her beautiful little head well and truly planted on her shoulders, and does not suddenly disappear over the other side of the Atlantic, as so often happens to our prodigies.

You come away from this film feeling that you have barely ever seen a team pull so hard together to make the result work: the film has a significant message to transmit and it had to do so through skillfully worked characteriology driven by dialogues that shift from the retrospective to the witty, through scenes that move from outright funny to downright sad. It works: the Spanish public identify with these `real' characters and natural language replete with non-dictionary spicey terms, as these men live out their empty, frustrating life of unemployment.

Excellent work here by the young director Fernando León de Aranoa: I shall be looking forward to seeing more of his films, and no doubt I shall acquire the video of `Los Lunes al Sol' as soon as it is in the shops.