It’s a neighbourhood marked by poverty, violence and organised crime (this isn’t a story explicitly about the Mafia, but their presence is often felt). As the women get older, their world gradually opens up – though for one more than the other – but the neighbourhood continues to shape their lives.
In My Brilliant Friend, the personal is the political, and the trajectory of the girls’ lives is entwined with that of Italy as a nation. Events such as the economic boom and student protests of the 1960s, the bloody battle between the communist and fascist movements, radical feminism, the legalisation of divorce, and – in the new season – widespread government corruption, all feed into Lenù and Lila’s experiences. “The political background behind the story of Lila and Elena, it is the real engine,” says Costanzo.
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My Brilliant Friend was the first foreign-language series to ever premiere on HBO. The show isn’t just in Italian – there are large chunks in Neapolitan dialect, meaning even viewers in Italy need subtitles. The intricacies of speech are important. Neapolitan is the language of the neighbourhood, while Italian represents a life beyond it. Of course, these subtle shifts will be lost on many viewers, especially outside of Italy, but a refusal to round off the edges of Ferrante’s story is what has made this adaptation so successful. “Never, not even in a moment, have I used any kind of trick to make things easier for viewers,” says Costanzo.
Ferrante worked with Costanzo on the script, communicating only over email. He has previously described the process as like “working with a ghost”. But while she gave feedback and notes, she also gave him the freedom to pursue his vision for the show – something he’s passed on to the other directors who’ve taken up the mantle from him – Daniele Luchetti in season three and now Laura Bispuri in season four. “I told them, do your job, do your point of view,” says Costanzo. “I want them to feel as free as I was.”
This final season – based on Ferrante’s fourth Book, The Story of the Lost Child – sees things come full circle, with Lenù and Lila brought back together in Naples after years apart. It’s now the 1980s, and decades of political and social unrest are coming to a close, but not before a succession of events again throw the women’s lives and friendship into turmoil once more.
For those enthralled with My Brilliant Friend, it will be difficult to say goodbye to these characters. Its creators feel the same, too. “I loved this project so much that I was ready to give 10 years of my life,” says Costanzo. Meanwhile, anyone who is yet to discover this spellbinding show has something very special waiting for them.
Season four of My Brilliant Friend is available on HBO now.
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