The HBO series My Brilliant Friend is based on Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels. The show is not inspired by true events but is a fictional creation representing a new and formidable challenge.
It is the story of a fierce, competitive friendship between two girls in a working-class Italian neighborhood in the 1950s.
Its vivid and emotionally intense storyline focuses on the characters' inner lives: feuding families and shifting loyalties wreak havoc in this tight-knit community, where everyone's eyes are on each other and rumors spread like wildfire.
For readers of Ferrante's books, it's enough to know that the four seasons mirror the four novels and are faithful to the source material.
Additionally, the show comments on gender and class experiences through its depiction of post-war Naples and its desolate atmosphere.
Creators take on what it was like to create the TV series My Brilliant Friend
My Brilliant Friend is a coming-of-age drama television series created by Saverio Costanzo for HBO, RAI, and TIMvision and produced by Wildside, Fandango, The Apartment Pictures, Mowe, Umedia and Fremantle.
Director and screenwriter Saverio Costanzo has adapted the book and stayed in close collaboration with author Elena Ferrante for many years.
He was personally chosen by Ferrante to adapt her novel. The reason is, that the characters are of paramount importance in the adaptation, especially the narrator who, through Lenù, reflects on her childhood experiences and her complicated relationship with Lila, whom she loves and hates.
Costanzo mentions to BBC;
“The characters were so clear in Ferrante's writing, that you couldn't miss them, Once I was looking for them, I was like, I know if I meet Lila or Elena, I will recognise them.
Elena Ferrante is a private individual and grants email interviews to only selected media. In an interview with Elissa Schappell for Vanity Fair in 2015, following the publication of her fourth novel, the author revealed that the friendship in the book My Brilliant Friend was based on a real one, though most likely not hers.
She has not highlighted anything beyond that.
Exploring the Roots of the Neapolitan Novel “My Brilliant Friend”
The story of Elena and Lila begins in the 1950s in a poor but lively suburb of Naples. They will depend on each other to face life, strength, and vitality born of the intertwining of their lives.
Elena Ferrante's simple, honest story of two girls' slow journey into womanhood speaks volumes about a nation and is thought-provoking about the nature of friendship.
My Brilliant Friend was the first foreign-language series ever made available on HBO. Ferrante collaborated with Costanzo on the script without ever meeting him, only through an intermediary that was purely email correspondence.
He says he was more or less working with someone he'd never met. Although she asked for his input and ideas for the show, she gave him the space to make the show any way he wanted.
Also Read: 5 shows to watch if you liked My Brilliant Friend, explored
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The series is currently streaming its fourth and final season on HBO. Do not miss out on this spectacular masterpiece.
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