Passions (2012)

In line with the principles of his ecological "conversion", Matteo Argento, chief financial officer of a multinational company, leaves, along with his wife Lydia, the city's mayhem and pollution to move to a country house. Here, he is bewitched by the spell of Nature and, even more, by the charm of a young beautiful peasant, Matilde, who is in turn caught by the charm of a city man, because of his culture and sexual sophistication. A great passionate love breaks out as Matilde discovers the magic of embodying the goddess Matteo had only dreamed of in his fetish fantasies, which he never dared confess to his wife. Their love enjoys a brief span, though, owing to the sudden death of Matilde in an accident in the fields. Matteo falls into deep depression and after separating from his wife, manages to recover only after a long psychotherapy. His bellicose temper is roused again by the outburst of the 2007 financial crisis, driving him to rise against the monetary system, starting with the opening of a new office to give assistance to the victims of banks' abuses. However, he is unable to forget Matilde and cherishes the illusion he may revive her in his young assistant, Macrina, who in the long run barely stands his absurd demand. She leaves him in the end, plunging him once again into despair. Matteo lives this abandonment like the second death of Matilde.