The niece of writer Elsa Morante, Laura Morante learned her craft treading the boards, working with Carmelo Bene (“Riccardo III”, “S.A.D.E.”). Her film debut dates back to 1980, with “Lost and found (Oggetti smarriti)” by Giuseppe Bertolucci: playing the small part of Sara, a young drug addict who hangs out at Milan’s Stazione Centrale working as a prostitute, she managed to get noticed. Later, in “Tragedy of a ridiculous man (La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo)” (1981) by Bernardo Bertolucci, she played Laura, the inscrutable finacée of the protagonist’s kidnapped son; in “Blow to the heart (Colpire al cuore)” (1982) by Gianni Amelio on the other hand, she played the angst-ridden Giulia, mixed up in a terrorist attack. In the same period she also became the muse of Nanni Moretti, who cast her in “Sweet dreams (Sogni d’oro)” (1981) as Silvia, Michele Apicella’s female ideal, then in “Bianca” (1984) as the teacher whom the mysterious protagonist falls in love with. From this brief list… read more
The niece of writer Elsa Morante, Laura Morante learned her craft treading the boards, working with Carmelo Bene (“Riccardo III”, “S.A.D.E.”). Her film debut dates back to 1980, with “Lost and found (Oggetti smarriti)” by Giuseppe Bertolucci: playing the small part of Sara, a young drug addict who hangs out at Milan’s Stazione Centrale working as a prostitute, she managed to get noticed. Later, in “Tragedy of a ridiculous man (La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo)” (1981) by Bernardo Bertolucci, she played Laura, the inscrutable finacée of the protagonist’s kidnapped son; in “Blow to the heart (Colpire al cuore)” (1982) by Gianni Amelio on the other hand, she played the angst-ridden Giulia, mixed up in a terrorist attack. In the same period she also became the muse of Nanni Moretti, who cast her in “Sweet dreams (Sogni d’oro)” (1981) as Silvia, Michele Apicella’s female ideal, then in “Bianca” (1984) as the teacher whom the mysterious protagonist falls in love with. From this brief list of film titles, one can easily identify the actress’s predilection for films of substance or, at least, aversion to trash commercial movies; this was also why, from the mid Eighties on, she decided to spend most of her time in Paris, appearing in works by Joao César Monteiro (“By the seaside (A flor do mal)”, 1986), by Alain Tanner (“La Valléè fantome”, 1987) and by Pierre Granier – Deferre (“The voice (La Voix)”, 1992). However, this choice did not prevent her from accepting interesting projects in Italian cinema: hence her appearances in “The two lives of Mattia Pascal (Le due vite di Mattia Pascal)” (1985) by Mario Monicelli, “Love of a woman (Un amore di donna)” (1988) by Nelo Risi, “I ragazzi di via Panisperna” (1988) by Gianni Amelio and in “Traces of an amorous life (Tracce di vita amorosa)” (1990) by Peter Del Monte. A list of her most significant performances from that period would undoubtedly have to include her part in Gabriele Salvatores’ “Turné” (1990), in which she plays the radio announcer with whom two actors are both in love. From the past decade, we like to remember her as the companion of leftist intellectual Sandro in “Ferie d’agosto” (1995) by Paolo Virzì, as the anguished mother in “The son’s room (La stanza del figlio)” (2001) by Nanni Moretti, and as the smother torn between a yearning to betray her husband and feelings of jealousy in “Remember me (Ricordati di me)” (2003) by Gabriele Muccino. —italica.rai.it
