‘My Brilliant Friend’ Director Reveals Decades of Email Correspondence with Elusive Author Elena Ferrante
Italian filmmaker Saverio Costanzo revealed today that he engaged in a years-long email correspondence with the pseudonymous author Elena Ferrante while adapting her acclaimed Neapolitan Novels into the HBO series My Brilliant Friend, offering a rare glimpse into the creative process behind the globally popular show.
Costanzo, speaking at a Q&A in Thessaloniki, detailed how he initially approached Ferrante’s publisher hoping to adapt her novel The Lost Daughter, and was granted six months to develop a script free of charge. Though ultimately unsuccessful in adapting that work, he was then offered the opportunity to tackle the Neapolitan Novels. “She wrote me an email and said I could have the rights for six months for free to work on the script, and then if I make something good out of it, we can talk about money,” Costanzo recalled. He co-wrote all 34 episodes of My Brilliant Friend with Francesco Piccolo and Laura Paolucci, despite never meeting Ferrante and not knowing her true identity.
The director also shared insights into Ferrante’s creative philosophy, noting her openness to changes during adaptation, stating, “She was very open to any changes because once you translate a book into a film, you have to change everything, in order not to change anything.” Costanzo further explained that Ferrante specifically resisted his suggestion to hire a woman director for the third season, believing the inherent tension between a man and a woman was crucial to the story’s themes of equality and feminism. This dynamic, he said, was central to the show’s success and reflects the complex relationships explored in Ferrante’s work, which often delves into the intricacies of female friendship and societal expectations. The show’s commitment to authenticity extended to language, with a dedicated six-month period spent recreating the now-rare Neapolitan dialect, a process Costanzo believes would be financially prohibitive today. You can learn more about the challenges of dialect preservation here.
Costanzo firmly dismissed rumors that Ferrante is a male author writing under a pseudonym, citing conversations during the show’s production. The series, which concluded its four-season run on HBO and RAI in Italy, has been praised for its nuanced portrayal of post-war Naples and its exploration of class, gender, and ambition. The show’s popularity has sparked renewed interest in Ferrante’s novels, cementing her status as one of contemporary literature’s most significant voices; you can find a complete list of her works on her official website.
Costanzo indicated that recreating the linguistic landscape of the show would be nearly impossible with current production budgets, suggesting a similar adaptation would be unlikely in the near future.
