Claudia Gerini

18 | ARTICLE

IN CONSTANT MOTION: CLAUDIA GERINI

by Tonia Serrao Soppelsa

It must be said that Claudia Gerini is one of the best known and prolifi c actresses on the Italian fi lm scene today.

Born in Rome in 1971, Gerini made her fi lm debut at just 17 years of age. Her fi rst appearance on the big screen came with Viaggi di Nozze by Carlo Verdone, and from that moment on she has never looked back.

A particular beauty with a keen mind and vivacious personality, Gerini has had a long and varied career that has earned her notable success in Italy and abroad.

Equally at home on the stage as in fi lm, Gerini fi rst appeared when she was 22 years old in the show “Angelo e Beatrice“ by Francesco Apolloni. It was where she was fi rst noticed by Verdone. More recently in 2015, she returned to the stage with the one-woman show “Storie di Claudia,“ written and directed by Giampiero Solari, a musical which highlighted all her skills: dance, singing and acting. In fi lm Claudia Gerini has acted in some of the most interesting projects of contemporary Italian cinema, such as “La Sconosciuta“ by Giuseppe Tornatore, “Non ti muovere“ by Sergio Castellitto, “Una famiglia perfetta“ by Paolo Genovese, “Diverso da chi“ by Umberto Carteni, and many others.

Earlier this year, “Mancino Naturale“ arrived in theatres; a fi lm that brings Claudia Gerini back to the big screen as a single mother who dreams of a future in the world of soccer for her son. The fi lm is directed by Salvatore Allocca and also features Massimo Ranieri among its protagonists.

Gerini plays Isabella, a single mother who has been widowed for a few years. She lives a modest existence in a popular neighbourhood of Latina, together with her son Paolo, named by his father in honour of his soccer idol, Paolo Rossi. Even Paolo, like the great soccer player with whom he shares the name, has an incredible left foot, so much so that Isabella is sure that her son will become a professional player.

The fi lm is all built around Isabella, brought to perfection by Claudia Gerini. The mother-child relationship is the beating heart of this story, but the fi lm also includes other universal themes, such as family relationships, love, guilt, redemption, passion for sport and economic diffi culties. In this role, Claudia Gerini is masterful and it is not surprising that her Isabella remains the best part of the whole fi lm.

Everything can be said about Claudia Gerini except that she is not willing to put herself to the test. In fact, the popular actress, a versatile interpreter of many dramas and comedies, and awarded the David di Donatello for her role in “Ammore e Malavita“ in 2018, has gone

behind the camera, directing herself as she runs incessantly on a treadmill (tapis roulant) and conversing with other characters exclusively through a tv monitor. The entire fi lm takes place in one room. In fact, “Tapirulàn“ is an athletic tour de force.

The protagonist, embodied by Gerini, is called Emma and is a woman in her forties who lives alone in a spacious loft with large windows overlooking a park, and who spends a lot of time on her supertechnological treadmill, because running makes her stay well and it helps her to think. Emma, who works as a psychological counselor trains while she also works, answering video calls of her numerous patients.

Emma has words of reassurance and comfort for everyone; in her own case, however, she hides from the outside world, and obsesses with running. She is in constant motion but does not advance an inch.

Like her character in “Tapirulàn“, Gerini too is in constant motions; Unlike her character, Gerini is constantly going places! Her body of work speaks for itself.

“Tapirulàn“ will be screened at the 2022 ICFF festival.