The Story of Piera

The Story of Piera
Italian dvd cover
Directed byMarco Ferreri
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEnnio Guarnieri
Edited byRuggero Mastroianni
Music by
Release date
  • 2 February 1983 (1983-02-02)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguagesItalian, West Germany

The Story of Piera (Italian: Storia di Piera) is a 1983 Italian drama film directed by Marco Ferreri.[1] Hanna Schygulla won the award for Best Actress at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival.[2]

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. 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

References

  1. ^ "NY Times: The Story of Piera". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Story of Piera". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 16 June 2009.