L'uomo privato [Portuguese]

The protagonist is a university law professor, an attractive, intelligent, ironic forty-year-old who has achieved a prominent position socially and professionally. Not surprisingly he is sought after by women. And to a degree he succumbs. But he comes across as a character closed up in himself, locked into his privileged situation, which he uses as a defensive screen between himself and the "vulgarity and absurdity of reality". Towards everyday reality he assumes an attitude of total, superior disdain. Our protagonist lives in an ivory tower he has constructed for himself, and it seems that nothing can break down his defenses. In order to preserve this obstinate individualism, he does not hesitate in repressing his feelings and sacrificing those of others. Thus, without any plausible reason, he breaks off the relationship he has with Silvia, a young woman who is desperately in love with him. But fate intervenes to break down the perfect system of rules he has constructed to protect himself. In the pocket of a young suicide victim - who turns out to be one of his best students - the police find a piece of paper with the his name and telephone on it. From this moment on, nothing will be the same as before. The story turns into a murder mystery, so it is appropriate to stop telling the story here. The point is that the real world, carefully kept at arm's length by our protagonist, accidentally infiltrates his life and then invades it completely, turning it upside down.