Days and Clouds

This week’s PIAF drama, Days and Clouds, might seem a little familiar to those well-acquainted with recent Italian drama. Like last year’s comedy, Her Whole Life Ahead, Days and Clouds similarly opens on a woman deftly defending her degree, and it similarly moves past this to prove that such achievements offer little solace in harsh economic times. The difference here, however, is that this time the woman at the centre is Elsa (Margherita Buoy) – a middle-aged mother who has long been enjoying the luxuries of her husband Michele’s comfortable salary. She’s barely had the time to recover from her post-completion hangover before Michele (Antonio Albanese) reveals that he’s been out of work for two months, and that they now have little over 20,000 euros. Their comfortable life of travel, art, and celebration is no longer a viable option.

As the couple adjust to their severe income cut, Days and Clouds unfolds simultaneously as a social snapshot and a character study. It explores the realistic (and topical) possibilities that could send an affluent couple down this path, and looks critically at Italian corporate culture. At the same time, though, the film is an intimate look at Elsa and Michele’s personal reactions to the change. It’s difficult not to be moved by the look of humiliation of Michele’s face when his daughter spots him working as a courier, or by Elsa’s reluctant departure from her passion of art restoration towards long working hours in mind-numbing occupations. At moments the film does seem to drag, and the performances are perhaps not entirely flawless, but Elsa and Michele’s relationship remains a constant source of intrigue. It is their haphazard alternation of resistance and resignation that keeps Days and Clouds interesting