30/01/2014 - Claudio Bisio is a business lawyer without scruples in a Milan falling victim to the financial crisis who meets someone even worse than he is: Diego Abatantuono

To fire someone by telling them about all the opportunities on the job market is the sublime perfidy of a Milan business lawyer played by Claudio Bisio in a film by Francesco Patierno: La gente che sta bene [+see also:
trailer
film profile], coming out today with 01 Distribution.

This man, at the top of his career, has everything in spades, except for scruples. He fights with everyone - with his stay-at-home wife who is more intelligent and capable than him (Margherita Buy) and with his problem-riddled children. Because of low profits however, he ends up being fired himself and finds someone even more unscrupulous than him (Diego Abatantuono). Based on the book by the same name by Federico Baccomo, author of the well-received book Studio illegale on which Umberto Carteni based a film starring Fabio Volo, La gente che sta bene confronts an economic crisis with a mixture of irony and dramatic tone.

“I was touched by this form of comedy, which comes from a fundamentally evil character who says the most terrible of things,” Claudio Bisio said in his meeting with the press in Milan. The film seems to resonate perfectly with a theme currently taken up all across the world - from Anthony Chen to Ektoras Lygizos, Woody Allen and Scorsese.

“Despite the fact that there are many peculiarities specific to us (Abatantuono speaks about “a new model for the Italian man” in order to define the people in the business world), I think that the story is fundamentally universal. The difference? While for America the dream is to arrive, for Italy the dream is to stay afloat, to make do. In this sense, the character of Bisio does not want to be well but wants to convince the others of being well. Initial reactions from the foreign press have been positive,” the director said.

From a visual and dramatic point of view, Patierno is greatly influenced by the independent fiction television industry coming out of North America, including Mad Men, Californication and The Office. “They introduced various substantial changes, focusing on characters and certain dialogues where there is space for irony, even in the most dramatic of moments. Television series can rely on longer dialogues and scenes and this means a more explanatory narrative. In this film, the beginning is a little longer and a little more built up, allowing for a more emotional ending.” 

(Translated from Italian)