Everett, Wash.
Published: Friday, November 21, 2008

'Days and Clouds': Italian film examines the collapse of a lifestyle

By Robert Horton
Herald Movie Critic

 Maybe the economic collapse hit Italy early, or maybe filmmaker Silvio Soldini saw it coming. Whichever, Soldini's 2007 film "Days and Clouds," opening here for a week, is an absorbing look at what happens when the roof falls in.

The film follows a middle-aged couple, Elsa (Margherita Buy) and Michele (Antonio Albanese), who live a very comfortable life in Genoa. The movie begins with Elsa finishing her doctorate on art history and restoration, a pleasant hobby for someone who can afford it.

But Michele informs her that he has actually been out of work for months, forced out by the company he founded. And suddenly they find themselves in a spiral, unable to find comparable work and forced to sell their condo for a much smaller apartment.

The drudgery of job-hunting and settling for less is what the movie's about. It's hardly a simple issue film: The specific personalities of the two people shape the outcome. Michele's stubborn pride short-circuits some opportunities (at times turning him into an immature layabout), while Elsa's disbelief and anger lead her into temptation.

Soldini, who made the crowd-pleaser "Bread and Tulips," is intent on following these two with an almost documentary-like, neorealist sincerity. The film is so ceaseless in its depiction of one frustration after another it reminded me of Will Smith's trials in "The Pursuit of Happyness," which coincidentally or not was directed by another Italian filmmaker, Gabriele Muccino.

Probably "Days and Clouds" goes on longer than it needs to make its point. Soldini's approach in making this experience real and ordinary is sound, but after a certain point it all begins to feel … ordinary.

The two leads are better than ordinary, for sure. Margherita Buy is especially good at being completely without affectation; a mid-40s woman who looks quite happily de-glamorized, she makes you believe the different stages of shock, resignation and determination.

As a parable of people learning to let go of unimportant luxuries and re-connect with essentials, "Days and Clouds" doesn't announce itself as escapist entertainment. But it will seem relevant to what a lot of folks are (and will be) going through as the economic bubble continues to deflate.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA