A BELOVED BOOK MOVES TO THE SCREEN (Above) Director Saverio Costanzo directs a scene
in HBO’s My Brilliant Friend. (Right) Italian actresses Elisa Del Genio (who plays Elena Greco as a
child) and Ludavica Nasti (a young Lila Cerrulo).
the author being anonymous, so it’s
made the translator more visible. And
I think people should be reminded
that there is a translator, just in gen-
eral. Critics will quote huge passages
without saying this is the translator’s
version of the writer. The translator
didn’t write the book, but this is the
medium through which you’re reading
the book. Translations have been a
niche, whereas they should be part of
the general population. THAT MIGHT DIFFER BETWEEN
CULTURES?
I don’t think words like that are
necessarily cultural. People think
Italians are operatic, but I don’t think
that about those books. The language
is very beautiful, very appealing to
me. People speak with a certain
amount of drama. Ferrante does
examine the forms of suffering
and emotions in a way that’s been
described as “forensic.”
FERRANTE’S CHARACTERS OFTEN
SPEAK IN A NEAPOLITAN DIALECT.
IF YOU HEARD IT BEING SPOKEN,
WOULD YOU UNDERSTAND IT?
I wouldn’t be able to understand it.
Many Italians don’t understand it.
The HBO series, which is subtitled,
was shot in Neapolitan when the
kids are little, with their families
and in the neighborhood. When they
showed the first two episodes in
Italian movie theaters, they had
subtitles in Italian. IS IT TRUE THAT YOU’VE
NEVER MET HER IN PERSON?
I’ve never met her. I don’t want to
know her identity. If she doesn’t
want to be known, I don’t want
to know her.
IN THE NEAPOLITAN QUARTET,
THERE’S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT
“SUFFERING.”COULD YOU TALK
ABOUT HOW SENTIMENTS LIKE
WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS
OF THE HBO VERSION OF MY
BRILLIANT FRIEND?
I didn’t write the subtitles, but I
edited the English subtitles. The first
time I saw the series, it was on a com-
puter, watching every scene six times
to check them. But then, seeing it on
a big movie screen was much better.
The actresses who play the little girls
are amazing, they carry the whole
thing. It’s a TV series made from a
book. You get immediately drawn in,
but it’s a different medium; it’s good
on its own terms. I thought that if
you haven’t read it, you might find
the first episode confusing, but then
I talked to a guy who saw them and
didn’t think it was confusing. There
are lots of characters and plotlines.
DO YOU HAVE MANY MEMORIES OF
GROWING UP IN MAPLEWOOD?
I went to Far Brook and then board-
ing school, but I had neighborhood
friends, and my father grew up in
Maplewood. We used to play in
the reservation across the street.
We never called it South Mountain
Reservation. It was just “The
Reservation.” ■
MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2018
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