“L’amica geniale” (“My brilliant friend”) by Elena Ferrante is a saga of four successful novels in Italy and all around the world, it is specially loved in the United States of America where the whole saga is known as “Neapolitan novels”.
The mystery of Elena Ferrante
The name Elena Ferrante is known worldwide but is a pen name: it might say that almost none knows the real identity of the writer.
Lots of hypothesis were made, but it is still a mystery (a publishing secret): the modern literature’s biggest mysteries.
Anyway, Elena Ferrante and her novels are loved and, perhaps, people love them because they love this mystery.
Or, perhaps, people love them because the novels go through the history of Italy: the story starts in the 1950s, in post-war Italy, in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, and follows the life of two female young friends and their friendship until their mature age.
Made in Italy
The novels of Elena Ferrante are really loved, her books are on the main shelfs of the bookstores, lots of copies were sold and are still sold.
As a result of the great success of the books, “My brilliant friend” became a miniseries.
The TV adaptation, which is currently airing on HBO and on Rai, is a co-production between HBO and Italy’s Rai Fiction and Timvision.
The movies were played in a mixture of Italian and Neapolitan dialect and are broadcasted in original language with subtitles (even Italians need subtitles).
It is a sort of homage to a rich Italian dialect.
So, if you and your relatives know Neapolitan, it is a good chance to practice.
The viewers were surprised because the movies bring the world readers know to life.
The little actresses are good, the screenplay is perfect, and there is a great attention to details and to the environmental, historic and cultural recreation.
In few words “L’amica geniale” is a real example of what is meant using the expression “Made in Italy: a mixture of creativity, attention, authenticity and emotions.
Are you watching the miniseries? Are you discovering something about Italy you didn’t know?
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