My Brilliant Friend Season 4

[Snowxmas]

Anyone else watching?

I'm only on Ep 2, but--I find the new actors, particularly the older version of Lenu to be soooo jarring. She is nothing like her at all, where as Lila's is a perfect match.

And I honestly don't get Lenu's obsession with Nino. He is absolutely not worth blowing up her whole life to be with him.

I absolutely loved the previous series and the books, but gave up on this after 10 minutes.

I loved the books so much that I’m keeping going, although I agree that the change of actors is jarring and Lenu’s obsession with Nino is excruciating!

I keep meaning to start - but am probably afraid it won’t be as shatteringly outstanding as previous seasons.

I've absolutely loved this so much and I love the way Lenu is just a really flawed but very real character - you want to be on her side and feel good for her but she makes some very bad decisions at times, especially over Nino. He gets worse as the books go on and I suppose that is how some people are, just making everyone else the victim of their ego. In some ways the whole series / books are soap opera at times, where you just want to know what happens next, but the way Ferrante writes the characters I think is better than that, more questioning somehow about what they do and why so you never know quite what to expect. I'm a huge fan of her writing and I think the woman with problems who is unable to get over her upbringing or conditioning is a theme. I think she could so easily write Lenu as a hero of the story, but she doesn't quite deliberately.

But @thisoldcity - what did you think of S4 specifically, in contrast to the earlier seasons with different actors?

I’ve read the novels as well as watching the adaptations - I just want to know if there’s a danger of being disappointed with the new episodes.

@BeetledBrow I just loved it really - the series can do no wrong for me! It had been sufficient time between watching series 3 and going to series 4 for it to seem less jarring. I suppose if you were watching the whole lot for the first time it would seem wrong. But I am a complete nerd about My Brilliant Friend and even saw the two play adaptation at the National Theatre a few years ago, which I found a bit unsatisfying as it had to shorten so much. I've also been to Naples mainly on the strength of this writer (and Gommorah) I like this series as it's going slowly and fitting most things in. My dh can't stand it, so he's been a hero watching it with me! I love the opening sequence of Series 4 showing them as children and then as adults, slowly then running - just so clever I think.

Thanks!

@BeetledBrow come back and tell us what you think! My dh will probably threaten to move out if I do this, but I feel I could happily watch from the start of Series 1 again now...

So pleased it's back. It's so different from most of the other drama series on at the moment. Remembering all the characters from the last series can be a bit difficult though!

Is anyone managing to watch / listen in English? Mine is in Italian with English subtitles and I can't for the life of me get the language to change :(

I am currently reading the books but have more or less given up on book 3 as it’s so tedious. Where is this series being shown? Is it worth me hacking on with the books? Book 3 is just boring .

I didn’t realise it was on sky/now! That’s my weekend sorted. I hope it lives up to 1-3

I have been an obsessive of this series for years. I can't deny that I have found this one more difficult to love because the actors from series 1, 2 & 3 felt like friends and they were SO good in their roles. They perfectly embodied the characters, especially Lenu, Lila, Michele, Stefano, Pinuccia, Marcello and Enzo. The fact that the older actors playing Nunzia, Immacolata etc were all the same actors as before made it all much more jarring. I know there were a lot of people arguing that the younger actors could have not played their older characters but I'm not so sure. The change of actors meant that the huge cast were often lost as I sat there going "who is THAT?." And some choices were.... very odd. Antonio looked like he was pushing seventy, even if he'd had a hard life. I found the new Solaras just wrong: they absolutely did not have the same menace and brooding of the younger actors. On the other hand, the new Nino and Lila were great.

In all, I really enjoyed it - for what is a very harrowing watch, especially the further in it gets. It is certainly one of the few series which forensically examines female friendship, motherhood (and the mixed emotions/expectations this brings), class movement, impact of poverty etc. It is a huge accomplishment for the cast and crew and I do hope they scoop up some awards so that more people become aware of its brilliance.

Am I right that it’s on Prime but you have to pay for it?

It's on Sky Atlantic if you have Sky.
I have loved this so far, I hope series 4 does not disappoint.

I've heard mixed things about this. Is it actually worth watching?

Is it actually worth watching?

Seasons 1 and 2 are some of the most astonishing, luscious, and excoriating TV I’ve ever witnessed. There were scenes I couldn’t get out of my head for months and months afterwards - not sure I’ve ever felt such vicarious pain; in fact I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that made me feel as much in any way. And I was watching it at around the same time as

I May Destroy You
Mad Men
GOT
Detectorists

So, yes - it’s worth watching! But you do need to start at the beginning.

It depends what you like to watch. I am a huge fan of the books, Italy and the Italian language, Naples, all of that - so I've adored everything about it. I loved the tatty run-down locations, the 70s fashions and the cars. I think one of the difficult things about it that jars sometimes is that both Lenu and Lila are not heroes, they make mistakes and get things wrong and although they are friends they sometimes don't like each other and they aren't 'close' female friends as we usually see that on the screen. There's also quite a bit about Italian politics of the time that crops up and is relevant to the characters and that's quite hard to follow. I watched it in Italian with English subtitles and enjoyed that as I liked hearing the language. I agree with pp that you need to watch from the start as some of the relationships, eg with Nino, only make sense if you've seen them from the beginning.

It’s better quality than the vast majority of tv, has magnificent themes (motherhood without the rosy glow, mother/daughter relationships without being Disney-fixed etc) that aren’t often explored in tv but it’s not an easy watch.

I loved the first three series but struggled with series 4. I think because too much is devoted to Lenu’s toxic relationship with Nino and (as others have said) Lenu is weak. The series is at its best when focusing on the Lenu/Lila friendship and there isn’t enough of that in series 4.
It’s also almost unrelentlessly downbeat without enough ‘overcoming the odds’ moments. At times it feels every glimpse of happiness is only there to bring the characters crashing back down again.

Is this the same series that you can pay to watch on Prime?

@tealeavesinthecup Sky Atlantic. You can get a subscription of that if you don't have Sky. Just need the Entertainment package from Now TV. Fantastic series but I think you'll love it or hate it. Same with the books, which I also love. It is quite brutal though, I have to warn you.

Thank you.

Just finished series 4. ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT. Just came to say, to anyone who gave up on it, please go back. The first 2 or 3 episodes got me thinking not to bother. I couldn't get into new Lenu. But I'm so glad I persevered. It's just utterly brilliant and beautiful. I've read the books so I knew how it ended, but seeing it was so poignant. Lenu was Lenu too after a while and I feel a bit daft now that it took me so long to adjust. Think I'm going to have to go back to series 1 and start all over again.

That’s encouraging! S4 was supposed to be my post-Christmas project but the Gavin & Stacey finale sent me down a Ruth Jones rabbit hole - so I’ve consumed the first three seasons of Fat Friends and am halfway through the six seasons of Stella. (Perfectly lovely but I may not make it all the way to the end.)