The new poor by Ivano De Matteo

by Camillo de Marco

30/08/2012 - The "equilibristi" (, from the title of Ivano De Matteo’s latest film selected as part of the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival, are those who walk on a wire to make to the end of the month with a salary of one thousand euros per month. In Italy, they makes up 11% of the population, in other European countries there are even more of them: “new poor”, those who fall and cannot get back up.

It is a slow descent into misery for Giulio, a forty year old employee of the commune of Rome, who, after having an affair with a colleague discovered by his wife, is forced to leave the house and stay far away from his two sons.

Suffocated by mortgages, rents and installments to be paid, he finds himself having to sleep in his car and to eat in soup kitchens. The only thing that can save him is his love for his family.

De Matteo, a documentary filmmaker who is extremely aware of social themes, aspires to a cinema of truth with his own personal style. Although it is lightened by ironic episodes,Gli equilibristi [trailer] is a slap in the face that forces us to open our eyes – just in case we hadn’t already when reading the newspaper every morning.

(Translated from Italian)