My Brilliant Friend - General Discussion

[meep.meep]

My reaction was "that's it?" so I'm glad there is at least one more episode.  IMDB didn't have this one listed.

My big problem is that I didn't read the books and really can't remember this huge cast of characters who are now played by different people.  Who was Gennarino's father after all?

Lila talking about how Nino was his father for a while was chilling.

 

[Mindthinkr]

15 hours ago, meep.meep said:

Lila talking about how Nino was his father for a while was chilling.

I think she was saying that to hurt Lenu, although it could be true. 

[Mindthinkr]

I just watched what I believe to be the final episode. Since nobody else is talking about it here, at least for now, I’ll hold on to my thoughts.

 

[rlc]

13 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I just watched what I believe to be the final episode. Since nobody else is talking about it here, at least for now, I’ll hold on to my thoughts.

 

I watched it early this morning. I'm assuming most people who are watching have read the books, but I'll also hold off until others have had a chance to watch.

[aghst]

I thought it was a very moving ending, reinforcing the deep bond that Lila and Elena had, even though Lila went ahead and erased herself, leaving her son behind.

Presumably, she had the dolls all this time but didn't show them to Elena until she'd been gone for awhile.

Her disappearance inspired Elena to write the novel (which presumably became the book on which the show is based?) but it took years and by the time she finished writing, Lila had been long gone, until she left a package.

They were rivals in school, became friends but there was always some competition.  Lila couldn't continue with schooling while Elena went far.  But for years, Elena saw Lila as a rival for Nino.

There was even competition between Tina and Imma and evidently, Lila tried to get her son to pursue more with education, while Elena did the same with her daughters and Elsa rebelled.

The hug Lila gave Elena is one of the few, maybe the only scene of her expressing warmth, affection for Elena.  A lot of the times, she would speak bluntly to Lenu, throughout their lives  -- despite all her academic and professional accomplishments, Lenu still looked at Lila as better than her in some ways.

So Elena endured a lot of Lila's often dismissive and haughty comments, didn't push back as often as she could have.

Their children became so intertwined, as they had.  Maybe she shouldn't have left Imma alone with Gennaro either, considering what happened with the two older daughters.

Or maybe she could have raised them anywhere but that neighborhood.  While they grew close with Lila's family, as they grew up, they didn't want to stay there.

It seems the one gesture towards the end of their lives -- leaving the dolls for Elena -- reminded Elena of how they were tied together, touched her in a way no other person has.

 

 

[meep.meep]

So did Lila hire Carmen's brother to kill the Solaras?

Had to laugh at Nino finally getting taken down.

Calling it "My Brilliant Friend" - I think all along you were supposed to be wondering who was the brilliant one.  It did go back and forth.  When they finally collaborated using both their skills (the article), it was terrible and turned the neighborhood against them instead of putting away the Solaras.

The one person I always felt sympathy for was Enzo.  He had to leave school so early, then he was the only one to take in Lila, and finally to lose his daughter.

[ShellsandCheese]

Lenu was writing about her brillliant friend Lina.

The series did a wonderful job staying true to the books. It just sucks that there large gaps between season and that after really pushing it the first two seasons MAX basically released the last two seasons with hardly a peep. Bizarre.  

[aghst]

I will probably re-watch the series at some point.

But I was surprised to find the number of songs used on the show.  Spotify has a soundtrack collection for all 4 seasons  and there are 90 tracks.

 

One glaring omission is Nel blu, dipinto di blu composed and performed by Domenico Modugno.  It was released in 1958 and became an international hit, probably the most famous Italian song of all time.

Dean Martin covered it later.  Many people know it as Volare because of the chorus.

 

Quote

Volare oh, oh
Cantare oh, oh
Nel blu, dipinto di blu
Felice di stare lassù
E volavo, volavo felice più in alto del sole
Ed ancora più su
Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano, laggiù
Una musica dolce suonava soltanto per me

Here's the original.

 

So anyways the show depicts the characters as teens dancing to Little Richard and other songs.  As big as this song was, you'd think they'd have listened to it nonstop.

Then again, Lenu and Lila didn't get to live carefree, middle class lives, free of financial and other worries.

Not only did Nel blu, depict di blu hit #1 in the US Hot 100, it was in the top 10 along with Dean Martin's cover version (just called Volare) at the same time.

I guess American teen girls around the same age as Lenu and Lila in the late '50s who helped make the song a blockbuster hit lived quite different lives than girls living in Naples at the time.