''The Story of Piera'' ( it, Storia di Piera) is a 1983 Italian drama film directed by Marco Ferreri. Hanna Schygulla won the award for Best Actress at the

1983 Cannes Film Festival The 36th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 19 May 1983. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Narayama Bushiko'' by Shōhei Imamura. In 1983, the new building for the main events of the festival, the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, was inaug ...

Plot

The film starts in one of the new towns of Latina with the birth of Piera, daughter of the somewhat unbalanced Eugenia and her apparently sane husband Lorenzo, who has a job with the

PCI PCI may refer to: Business and economics * Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards ** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors * Pro ...

. Eugenia's behaviour at home and in public becomes increasingly erratic and when on top of this Lorenzo loses his post, the strain puts him into a mental hospital. Piera leaves school to work for a dressmaker and pursues her dream of acting, eventually breaking into television and theatre. Interleaved with her outside life we see her sexual development, from kissing neighbourhood boys to a lesbian relationship while she is in hospital with breathing problems and finally to adult men. While Piera is maturing as a woman and as an actress, Eugenia is deteriorating and has to be locked away. The film ends with Piera taking her mother out for the day to a deserted beach, where the two women undress and hug each other tightly in a moment of natural tenderness.

Cast

* Isabelle Huppert as Piera * Hanna Schygulla as Eugenia *

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...

as Lorenzo * Angelo Infanti as Tito and as actor playing Jason * Tanya Lopert as Elide * Bettina Grühn as the young Piera *

Renato Cecchetto Renato Cecchetto (28 October 1951 – 23 January 2022) was an Italian actor who specialized in dubbing. Life and career In the 1970s, Cecchetto attended the Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his career working with f ...

* Maurizio Donadoni as Massimo * Aiché Nanà as the midwife *

Girolamo Marzano Girolamo is an Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English equivalent is Jerome. It may refer to: * Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler * Girolamo Cassar (c. 1520 – after ...

Lidia Montanari Lidia may refer to: * Lidia (given name) * ''Lidia'' (spider), a spider genus * Hurricane Lidia, multiple storms * ''Comoedia Lydiae'', a medieval Latin elegiac comedy from the late twelfth century * Spanish Fighting Bull, also known as ''toro ...

as "Cento mille lires" *

Laura Trotter Laura may refer to: People * Laura (given name) * Laura, the British code name for the World War I Belgian spy Marthe Cnockaert Places Australia * Laura, Queensland, a town on the Cape York Peninsula * Laura, South Australia * Laura Bay, a bay on ...

as young midwife *

Marina Zanchi A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

* Lina Bernardi *

Elisabetta Ambrosini Elisabetta is an Italian feminine given name related to Elizabeth. * Elisabetta Artuso (born 1974), Italian former middle distance runner * Elisabetta Barbato (1921–2014), Italian operatic soprano * Elisabetta Casellati (born 1946), Italian polit ...

Fiametta Baraila ''Fiametta'' or ''Fiammetta'', (also known as ''The Flame of Love'', ''The Salamander'' or ''Néméa'') is a ballet in four acts and four scenes, choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Ludwig Minkus, first presented by the Ballet of t ...

* Serana Bennato * Rita Caldana * Cristina Forti * Loredana Bertè (herself, singer " Sei bellissima")

References

External links

* 1983 films 1983 drama films Films directed by Marco Ferreri 1980s Italian-language films Italian LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films Films about sexuality Films scored by Philippe Sarde Films based on biographies 1983 LGBT-related films 1980s Italian films {{1980s-Italy-film-stub