Marry the unemployment blues of Cantet's Time Out with the mid-life marital stress of Lantana, and you'll have some idea of what Days and Clouds is like. It's an absorbing drama about an Italian marriage. The husband loses his job, money runs out fast, and the couple -- accustomed to wealth -- has to cope not only with the loss of luxuries but also (and more importantly) the loss of dignity.

It's a beautifully acted film that moves slowly and unpredictably. The symbolism of the wife's art restoration work is a little heavy-handed, but I didn't mind. I rarely see marriages taken so seriously in film. And while I occasionally shook my head at this couple's severe communication problems, both the husband and wife were three-dimensional characters and I never disbelieved them for a moment. The storyteller's patience is admirable, as he slowly guides his characters down, down, down into deeper troubles, all the while teasing us with possibilities about how they might reinvent their lives should they ever raise their gaze, shake off their humiliation, and take notice.

Another very good film from FilmMovement, and one of the best I've seen so far this year. Rent it when you get a chance.