Days and Clouds

Silvio Soldani's Days and Clouds is a very realistic look at how circumstances can turn around lives in these crazy economic times.

Elsa (Margherita Buy) and Michelle (Antonio Albanese) are an upper middle class couple who seem to have it all. She just completed an advanced degree and is working on a beloved restoration project. He has been in a prosperous business for many years. Or so she thought. The fact is that Michelle hasn't worked in several months after he was forced to leave the business. He wanted to wait until Elsa graduated to tell her.

What we see in this film is how it is to try and get work if you are middle aged. And we see how it takes a toll on a marriage. The couple have a daugher Alice (Alba Rohrwacher) who is in her early 20s and is a partner in a restaurant.

I won't say more about the plot. But as I said before, this is the real deal and hits close to home. It joins films like Time Out, Mondays in the Sun and others in showing us the how the world is in this global economy. I thought that the film was terrific and the two leads were outstanding. I urge people to see this film and support films that have to do with this subject matter. Most of the films that deal with layoffs and work problems are not American. This country is having an economic meltdown. When will a brave American directer get the cajones to make a film that tells it like it is? I hope very, very soon. Again, if you can't see this film in theaters (it has a limited distribution) then rent it when it comes out later this year.