My Brilliant Friend - General Discussion

[ProudMary]

Content warning for S3  Ep. 7:  The scene immediately following the opening credits contains

Spoiler

a very graphic beating of a male character and graphic rape of a female character. 

 

[aghst]

Episode 03.07 Try Again

Quote

With her marriage on the edge, Elena is further destabilized when Pietro brings Nino home for an unexpected visit.

Opening scene was tough to watch.

Then Pietro having a gun pointed at him.

I wasn't familiar with the turmoil in Italy in these times.  You heard a lot about unstable governments and people being abducted, like Aldo Moro, a former prime minister who was tried and killed.

But this show has depicted political crimes at a lower level like that pharmacist being killed or Bruno, the salami factory owner who spent that summer with Elena and Lila.

Maybe attribute it to the new show runner but presumably these scenes are in the book.

The main thing is that Lenu goes to Milan because Franco is her ex boyfriend from University and Mariarosa is her sister in law.

She remembers how Franco tried to mold her and she talks about how these educated men are still sexist in the way they treat their educated wives and girlfriends.

Mariarosa tells her that is what her next book should be and Elena starts researching.  She also tells her she's surprised she married her brother, thought it was a bad marriage, which of course Elena is living through, bickering more with her husband, who shows little interest in her aspirations.

So Lenu is all down with women's liberation and she's going to write a book about how men have manipulated women.

Then Nino enters the picture again and she's instantly thirsty.

She dislikes the male gaze but it's Nino!  

She gets all dolled up before meeting him, asking her daughter -- Dede is becoming a firecracker -- and her husband how she looks.  She's also trying to measure up to Nino's wife as well.

She's doing all this research about how poorly men have treated women but she doesn't remember how he treated Lila or other women whom he impregnated.

Nino comes with the sweet words, how he was looking for things in Lila that he had really seen only in her, how brilliant her book is.  She asks him if he wants to read her first draft and when he says yes, she pulls it out of her bag!

Ah, Lenu, Lenu, Lenu.  Still that little girl who wants his attention more than anything else.

I don't know what year it is but it's been 8 years since University!  So she's bearing down on 30 or maybe even past it.  She's a mother and a still respected writer but her knees buckle whenever he's around.

How about the clothing store scene.  Nino's wife goes into the dressing room to try a dress and out pops Lila!  Elena is hallucinating but that is how she sees any rival for Nino?

He treated her like shit too, that summer where she covered for them so they could fuck all night, as she put it.  It wasn't what they did which offended her, it was the fact that she wasn't the one sleeping with Nino.

If he comes on to her, she'll leave Pietro instantly, maybe not even care about custody of the daughters.  It may be coming to that.

[izabella]

Wow, Lenu really has a real blind spot when it comes to Nino.  She even invited him to stay at there place when he comes back.  What could possibly go wrong?

[marybennet]

From her perspective, of course, what could possibly go right?!? I think she's walking straight into an affair and facilitating it.

I confess I found myself (even knowing all that I know about him) charmed by Nino in this episode.  I think the show wanted us to feel the power of his appeal, his interest in Lenu's work, for example, which Pietro continually ignores, can't help but be compelling for her.  The part that shocks me a little is her willingness to not care about his wife, though I suppose the transposition of his wife and Lila in Elena's mind suggests that she does feel some guilt and maybe also some triumph.

Edited April 13, 2022 by marybennet

[tennisgurl]

Pietro might be a jerk, but he wasn't wrong about Lila having a scary intense energy. I think that saying that Lila hates Lenu is simplifying things, their love/hate super intense relationship that spans their entire lives is a lot more complicated than that, but she really does tend to stare at Lenu like she plans on scratching her eyes out. Or angrily eating her books. 

That dinner was certainly awkward on every possible level. I did end up feeling a bit badly for Pietro, he's just having dinner with all of these complicated dynamics born from their poverty stricken crime addled neighborhood that he cant understand all happening around him, no wonder he seemed baffled by the end of the day. I hope that they go ahead and pull the plug on that relationship soon, its clearly over, Lenu looks even more miserable than usual. Of course, now Nino is back in the picture, and while Pietro isn't a good husband, Nino is hardly a trade up.

Edited April 15, 2022 by tennisgurl

[Bellatrix]

On 4/12/2022 at 8:46 AM, aghst said:

Mariarosa tells her that is what her next book should be and Elena starts researching.  She also tells her she's surprised she married her brother, thought it was a bad marriage, which of course Elena is living through, bickering more with her husband, who shows little interest in her aspirations.

Here my immediate thought was that people have a lot of reasons to try to make other people dissatisfied with their life, and that reason is rarely having their best interests at heart.

(Unless they're married to/about to marry a psychopath, which Pietro, whatever his faults, is clearly not, or something.)

If you were previously satisfied, and somebody comes along and points out all the reasons you have to be dissatisfied, that is actually a major red flag.

This of course goes doubly for Nino in episode 8. I could not believe the way he acted towards Pietro. And in his own house! And Pietro then apologises! He should have punched him and thrown him out. 

I also could not believe Elena’s reaction to her husband being threatened at gunpoint. Alright, let’s say the youth never intended to fire (which was not at all clear to me), but has she never heard of guns going off accidentally? I have no idea about statistics, but I should think a great deal of gun related violence and accidents do in fact happen accidentally.

Also, if Elena is so dissatisfied with her life, she has options. How about crying/nagging her way to a nanny? She already has a full-time housekeeper. Would it really have taken more than a few teary phone calls to her mother-in-law to make a nanny also happen? Also, in a few short years, both her children will be in school, and after that teenagers and more independent, leaving her plenty of free time. 

Elena is annoyingly passive about the whole thing, she could have attended lectures, written, etc., with a little maneuvering or just a little waiting.

As for Nino, blergh. I hated him in the books. He was like a black hole that showed up and always ruined everything. I cheered every time I thought we had seen the back of him, but he always reappeared like a bad penny.

I am not saying Pietro was any great prize, either, (I would not have married him myself), but she chose him, they were a little family, and he was a good provider.

I do not think it was up to anybody else to rag on him or ruin that.

As to Mariarosa, her boyfriend had just got his eye gouged out. It's entirely possible she wanted Elena to feel miserable about her life, too. People also enjoy doing that to others without anyone's eye being gouged out, so Mariarosa may have been feeling extra that way.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Bellatrix

[cardigirl]

Well, that finale was something!  I detest Nino and cannot believe that Elena thinks he's all that. She's seen how he treats women in his life, time and time again, yet she thinks it will be different for her? I mean, I guess that happens often, that people fool themselves into thinking "this time it will be okay," but I was very disappointed she chose this. 

I'm also sad we will be losing the two leads for the final series. I've enjoyed their portrayals very much. Gaia Girace and Margherita Mazzucco have done fine work in this series. 

Now we have to wait a year (hopefully only a year) for the next series.  Can't wait!

 

[Mindthinkr]

   I’m still absorbing what I just watched. I’m just surprised that she would leave her children to be with her lover (Nino). She told them 5 days, but we won’t know if it was just 5 days until next season. I fully expected Pietro to hit her or some other form of DV when she fessed up about her true feelings. How old was Dede to understand what was going on? 6 or 7? She was such awareness for such young girl. 
   Lila called Elena an idiot for leaving her husband. How she thought he was great. I guess he was according to the culture they were brought up in, or another factor could have been that Lila was jealous. She was still stuck in a city of chaos. She did bring up a good point about the education. 
   I guess I need to sit with my thoughts instead of posting as I’m still a bit jumbled. I did like the ending and seeing Elena’s character grown up in the mirror, but I will miss these two actresses as well. 

[ProudMary]

I realize that this entire story is being told through the eyes of an older Elena, but from a cinematic perspective, I would have thought that the Season Finale would have had more balance between what was happening in Florence and what was happening in Naples, instead of being almost completely centered on Elena. If there was an Episode 9, I'm sure it would have focused on the murder of Signora Solara and its effects on the denizens of the neighborhood. What led up to this murder? What is Lila experiencing during this turbulent time? Why does she feel that she needs to send Gennaro north? Now, I fear we won't see that story, as we know that the upcoming S4 will have older actresses portraying Elena and Lila, so a time jump is expected. Perhaps there will be flashbacks early in S4 that still include Gaia Girace and the Naples cast we're familiar with. I did like the (re)-introduction of the actress playing the older Elena with the mirror scene in the airplane's restroom. Well done.

Truthfully, the Elena/Nino plot line went on for too long. We knew where this was going. The heart wants what it wants, but I had hoped Elena's brain would prevail. Boy, she was brazen about it too; in her own apartment, right down the hall from where Pietro slept and then in their bathroom while he was making coffee! She didn't seem to care if she got caught. Also, never sleep on what your children are observing. They understand a lot more than most parents give them credit for, especially one as whip-smart as Dede. Pietro's been no prize and it made me angry that he was the wronged party here, but you shouldn't cheat on your partner. You have to end it first. (Nino's just as guilty of this.) And I don't have much sympathy for a parent who walks out on their kids. I haven't read the books so I don't know how the Elena/Nino "love" story ends, but we (and Elena!) know what his track record is. I don't think there will be a surprise here.

Still, this is peak TV. I'm looking forward to the fourth and final season.

 

[aghst]

Elena knew Nino's history.  She knew it was ironic, maybe hypocritical of her to be craving for Nino's attention and approval, considering that her new book was about men manipulating women and women to a certain extent giving into men's wishes.

Did she just crave love or was the imprinting from her childhood that strong?

Probably didn't help that she really was never in love with Pietro, who came along out of nowhere when she was feeling very low, after Franco left her in Pisa and all their friends abandoned her, mocked her humble origins and family.

Not that Pietro didn't deserve some of the blame.  He was kind of an absent husband, didn't show interest in her work.  Her dissatisfaction with the marriage drove her to write her new book and probably into the arms of Nino with his effusive praise.

She thought she was part of a trend, these broken up marriages, people cohabitating rather than marrying, remarrying or staying married.  That is probably true, the '70s were when cohabitation became more common.

Lila didn't mince words.  Was it purely advice or was some of it from feeling burned by Nino herself?  But her trying to say Pietro was a good man and she shouldn't ruin her marriage probably is an indication that Lila and Lenu had grown apart, that Lila didn't know how dissatisfied Elena was in her marriage.

She herself had gotten involved with Enzo, maybe out of gratitude for looking after her all those years?  So maybe Lila's due for awakening as well.

Yeah it would have been interesting to see more about the violence back in Naples but it may be a contrast, Elena is on a plane, leaving the country, while Naples burns, fading greater into her distant past.

The subtitle of the season is Those Who Leave, Those Who Stay.  But it's not just about Naples, it may be about marriage and traditional lives.

Nino may ultimately let Elena down but for the times, probably crazy for them to abruptly leave their marriages like that, both leaving spouses from well-to-do families who probably have a lot of influence over their academic and literary careers.

 

 

[tennisgurl]

I cant stand Nino, but I admit I chuckled when he told Pietro that Lenu's book wasn't for someone like him. Of course, that probably led Lenu to his room even quicker, even though the affair was probably inevitable. Its so frustrating, Lenu is so smart but is such an utter idiot when it comes to Nino. The heart wants what the heart wants and all, but she knows how he is, she knows how he treats women, including her best friend, and she is still ready to end her marriage for him. Granted, their marriage would probably have ended even without Nino, Pietro and Lenu were clearly miserable and Pietro is hardly blameless in all of this, but Nino being a factor just makes everything more messy. Even though Pietro was a rather uncaring unsupportive husband, cheating is never alright. I half expected Lenu to find Nino already banging some woman in the plane's bathroom, she is fooling herself if she thinks he's going to change his ways for her. I bet all of the gelato in Italy that we find out next season that he has not only been with every woman in Rome, all the while being with Lenu, but that he never even officially left his wife, even if he told her about the affair. Nino might be charming, but he's a scumbag, and its so frustrating to watch Lenu learn this over and over again, but then deciding to go back to him anyway.

She certainly wasn't doing a great job at hiding her affair, hooking up with him while Pietro was making coffee in the next room, leaving their family vacation for a romantic rendezvous, even her daughter caught on. She should really remember from her own childhood how much kids pick up on things.

I wish that we had gotten to see more of Lila and the recent turmoil in the neighborhood, but I guess it served to bookend the season. It started with a Lenu focused episode about the start of her marriage, and ended with a Lenu focused episode about the end of it. That shot of young Lenu looking into the mirror and seeing older Lenu was really well done, a nice way to smoothly transition to the new cast. I will miss these versions of Lila and Lenu though, I hope we get to see them one more time before we end the show, along with little kids Lenu and Lila. 

I hope it wont be too long until we get our last season!

[izabella]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

She certainly wasn't doing a great job at hiding her affair, hooking up with him while Pietro was making coffee in the next room, leaving their family vacation for a romantic rendezvous, even her daughter caught on. She should really remember from her own childhood how much kids pick up on things.

My jaw was on the floor during that entire scene with the four of them in the girls' bedroom.  I was stunned that Pietro would put the girls through that, though I get that he was angry and he had a right to be.   I guess it's better they know the facts, but yikes, those girls will need therapy.  The way Elena just walked out and left them all behind was brutal.

When Dede said Nino's name, it struck me how much she has her mother's temperament and affect, except for occasional bursts of anger.  The young actress did well at showing the serious, surface calm her mother usually wears, with a very active mind underneath.

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

Nino might be charming, but he's a scumbag, and its so frustrating to watch Lenu learn this over and over again, but then deciding to go back to him anyway.

It's interesting that Lenu, who is typically very self-controlled and spare with emotions, lets it all go with Nino, including common sense.  What would she have done if Pietro had walked in on her and Nino?  Or Dede? 

That phone call between Lila and Lenu was also really something.  I got the sense Lenu felt more than a little satisfaction at telling Lila she was running away with Nino.  And she wasn't pleased when Lila warned her he was the kind of guy who will suck you dry and dump you. 

No, Lenu is in love and is finally getting the guy she's always wanted, and, dammit, she wants to be the one to walk in the sun and no one could stop her.  Except Nino.  I noticed she was very, very fearful of answering the phone when she was about to walk out the door with her suitcase.  I think she was afraid it was Nino calling to make an excuse why they couldn't fly away together.   She was relieved it was Lila instead.

I'm still digesting this episode. 

[meep.meep]

I found it strange that a woman could write a book about how men manipulate women into being what they want them to be, and then go completely gaga for someone who is a total manipulator.

And kudos to Lila who gets Pietro.  He might not be a barrel of fun but he is very intelligent and would never hurt Lenu unless betrayed.

[marybennet]

On 4/21/2022 at 10:39 AM, meep.meep said:

And kudos to Lila who gets Pietro.  He might not be a barrel of fun but he is very intelligent and would never hurt Lenu unless betrayed.

Pietro hit Elena. I don’t think we can forget that. Nobody is a prize here. I also think Lila is enjoying overstating the virtues of Pietro because it enhances her pleasure in discovering that Lenu can be stupid.

[CarolMK]

I haven’t read the third book yet so I really didn’t expect that Lena would leave her family for Nino, and I do wonder if it was for longer than 5 days. I saw how unhappy she was in the role of just being a wife and mother, it wasn’t enough for her . I do think Nino is manipulative but he understands Lena in a way Pietro does not . It wasn’t surprising that Lila told her not to leave her husband for Nino, but we see in the beginning of the series that Lila disappeared and didn’t leave a trace as to where she went .

[aghst]

Ultimately Elena may regret leaving her family for Nino.

But one thing was clear, with Pietro, she would not have been encouraged to write.

She probably would have written more books even if she stayed with Pietro but her second book didn't turn out well whereas for this new book, she got a lot of encouragement from Pietro's sister and mother and of course Nino.

You would think Lenu wouldn't want to end up a wife and mother, with no career of her own, given what she observed about life of older generations of women back in Napoli.

She did most of the research on her own and had pretty much finished the book, after her sister in law's encouragement, and Nino just showered her with a lot of praise, which she craved because she wanted to see him.

Nino is certainly not her muse but his presence and the affair basically brought out her animal spirits.  However her decision turns out, will we see the effects on her as a writer?

Well next season, an older actress will take over as Elena -- and presumably the same with Lila's character.  So will it be some years after these events depicted in the finale for Season 3?  She's actually suppose to be around 30 because at least 8 years have passed since she graduated from university.  So the older actress will be playing Elena who's around 40?  Or will it pick up almost right after these events but the older actress will start as Elena in her early 30s?

 

[Bluesky]

I hate Nino, what an ass.   Way too much Elena and she has become pretty unlikeable.  Did she tell her children that she would be back in 5 days but doesn’t actually plan on it?  

[pasdetrois]

I am very late to this party. I confused this series with something else and didn't watch, then realized my mistake last week. I've binged through the end of Season 2.

What a gift! Especially since we've had to settle for so much dreck during COVID. I've never been to Italy and feel like I've been immersed virtually. Usually so many characters run together in my mind, but I have vivid images and memories of each one. Some of the faces are remarkable - for example, Alessio Gallo is a combination of menace and odd beauty.

What a stand-out achievement for the director(s).

I can't wait to dig in to Season 3.

[aghst]

Netflix has released a mini series based on Elena Ferrante's Lying Life of Adults.

It's set in Naples in the 1990s, about a young woman growing into adulthood.

Sounds familiar?  Well she had a relationship with an aunt played by Valleria Gollina.  So it doesn't have the long sweep of time like MBF but covers a different period in Naples.

It's getting good reviews.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_lying_life_of_adults/s01/reviews?type=top_critics

 

 

[aghst]

Season 4 is now filming and as expected, all major cast members are new.

https://variety.com/2023/tv/global/my-brilliant-friend-season-4-cast-alba-rohrwacher-irene-majorino-first-look-image-1235506234/

 

 

[rlc]

Finally watched (binged) season 3. It was an intense watch. The actress playing Dede did a phenomenal job. 

My takeaway is that while Elena is attempting to grow into a full and independent person, her past holds her back. Nino and Lila are like a mirror for her. In Nino she sees the idealized version of herself, and in Lila she sees the manifestation of all of her insecurities and self-doubt. Lila draws people in and has incredible confidence. One has to wonder if she would have actually succeeded to the level that she and others believe she is capable if given the opportunity. I'm excited to see season 4 with the new actors. I'm often wondering while watching if the actors playing Elena and Lila are truly that one-note, or if that's the direction they are being given. 

[aghst]

So no word yet on when season 4 will premier.

There's been no official word so others have pieced together a possible timeline.

For instance this site believes some filming was done in May.

https://www.napolike.com/lamica-geniale-4-ultima-stagione-quando-inizia-cast-anticipazioni

That's much later than one would hope.  Season 3 ended airing in February 2022.  So if they have been filming as recently as mid 2023, we may not get season 4 until next year.

 

In the mean time, I've found the Max Richter "Recomposed" theme of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in some other shows or movies.  Not sure which but it's unmistakeable and seems to have been used in more than one work.

OK, found a site and it was in a season 2 episode of The Crown, in fact it was used on that show before it was used on MBF.

But it made me want to look up the music used on the series, because I don't think there is an official soundtrack release.  Found this site which lists the music used on the show and links to some Youtube videos of the songs.

https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/film-tv/my-brilliant-friend-theme-tune-soundtrack/