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'Days and Clouds'

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BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

July 11, 2008

Elsa and Michele, the married couple at the center of "Days and Clouds," may live in Italy, but their story will have resonance for many Americans. Well off, with a beautiful home and a maid to clean it, they one day find themselves facing an unforgiving economy and a major change in lifestyle.

When Michele (Antonio Albanese) is ousted from the company he founded, Elsa (Margherita Buy) must abandon her art-student career to find a paying job. The comfortable house becomes a dinky apartment. And soon the marriage is fraying under the steady friction of financial stress and old resentments.

It's hard to feel sorry for folks who must sell their yacht - haven't these pampered people seen "The Bicycle Thief?" - but director and co-writer Silvio Soldini ("Bread and Tulips") adopts the nonjudgmental tone of a documentary. And his two leads are absolutely riveting, especially Buy: Her lovely face ages with each frame. The trials and tribulations sometimes verge on the trivial, but maybe that's the point.

(unrated)

PLOT A well-heeled couple find their marriage tested by a financial crisis.

CAST Margherita Buy, Antonio Albanese, Alba Rohrwacher.

LENGTH 1:55.

PLAYING AT Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and Quad Cinema, Manhattan. Opens July 18 at Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington.

BOTTOM LINE How sorry can you feel for two wealthy people? That may depend on how wealthy you consider yourself.