While the author Elena Ferrante is releasing a new novel with Gallimard (The deceitful life of adults), France 2 broadcasts for the first time the first season of The Prodigious Friend, series adapted from the eponymous saga, produced by Saverio Costanzo. An adaptation of the famous writer's literary phenomenon in eight episodes, corresponding to the first volume of the four books. Broadcast since 2018 on the Rai, the program has already fascinated more than 7 million Italian viewers. There is no doubt that French fans will be there. Before the first broadcast, scheduled for Wednesday July 15 at 9:05 p.m., Current wife spoke with the producer of the series, Lorenzo Mieli.
CURRENT WOMAN: The series, The prodigious friend, was available on the Canal + platform in France and is now open on television. Are you eager to conquer the French public on an even larger scale?
Lorenzo Mieli: After the huge success of the series around the world, I hope that the series will find its audience in France and that the public will also appreciate the incredible and magnificent life destiny of Lila and Elena.
The series is faithful to the book: same incipit, same terms, same expressions in the narration with the voice-over which reads certain passages of the book almost word for word … Was it important for you to keep the tone of Elena Ferrante , his style, his writing?
L.M.: It was very important for us to maintain the tone, style and narration of Elena Ferrante, not out of obligation of fidelity, but because in this text we immediately found all the elements in several successive layers, complex and dramatically organized cinematically. So it was a necessary job.
Why did you choose the voice-over?
L.M.: The choice of voice-over proved to be inevitable because the story is told by Elena, an old lady, and it was essential to come back to her point of view. The character of Elena displays all her interiority through this voice-over, which is often in total contradiction to these actions. So this is not redundant, and has allowed us to energize the story.
What do you think of the mystery surrounding the identity of Elena Ferrante?
L.M.: No one has met her and none of us know her identity. Everything was orchestrated by email. We have always respected his choice to keep his identity a secret. It was a personal choice that we could understand.
His book has become a real bestseller, translated into 40 languages… Were you afraid of not being able to live up to the expectations of the fans?
L.M.: We were all very afraid to disappoint the expectations of the readers of the saga, starting with us, the producers. But I think it’s always the case when you make such an important literary adaptation in series or film. After the launch of the first season, we immediately went for general public support and the opinion of Elena Ferrante readers. We were happy to see that they had found the faithful and fair accommodation.
Why did you choose the format of a series rather than a film?
L.M.: It would have been impossible to adapt these four books to film, because they are structured and designed as a real saga which tells the story of a friendship between two girls, but also of a group around them which evolves throughout during their lifetime. I sincerely think it would have been a mistake to make this saga a film, or to make it a single season.
A man who tells a saga of women… Didn't that put you off?
L.M.: Even if it is not the first time that this has happened, it was a strong choice to entrust the realization to Saverio Costanzo for a project written by a woman and which tells stories of women. More than dictated by a choice of genre, Saverio was chosen by Elena Ferrante in person, because of her affinity with him.
How did you find the interpreters of Elena and Lila?
L.M.: The casting to find Elena and Lila young and adolescent was very long and was attended by our excellent casting director Laura Muccino and her team, under the demanding supervision of Saverio. We saw over thousands of girls before finding the actresses who matched Elena and Lila. Our goal was to find the girls who perfectly embody our two heroines and the story we had to tell.
What did Elisa Del Genio, Ludovica Nasti, Gaia Girace and Margherita Mazzucco have more than the others?
L.M.: Saverio chose them on the first try. The two Elena had this sweetness mixed with a form of fragility, while having the strength to communicate to the public his strong internal disturbances. The two Lila, for their part, have the capacity to show this pride and this external, almost explosive vitality, as well as this enormous inner suffering of Lila.
What are your plans today?
L.M.: I’m very happy to have embarked on a new adventure with my company The Apartment, which is part of the Fremantle group, and with which I will produce the new seasons of The Prodigious Friend. I also produced the Luca Guadagnino series We are who we are, which will soon be broadcast. With The Apartment, I develop and produce many projects, among which Homemade, which you will soon be able to discover on Netflix. It is a collection of short films shot during confinement by 17 major international directors, who tried to tell in a different, creative and very poetic way, the period that we have just lived.
The prodigious friend, from Wednesday July 15 at 9:05 p.m. on France 2.
Synopsis:
When the most important friend of her life seems to have mysteriously disappeared without leaving a trace, Elena Greco, an elderly woman, decides to tell as faithfully as possible her story of 60 years of friendship, sincere and imbued with rivalry, with Raffaëlla Cerullo, nicknamed Lila. The plot opens with the last year of elementary school for Lila and Lenù in Naples. Both extremely gifted and from a modest background, have little hope of reaching college and quenching their thirst for culture. Surrounded by violence, settling of scores, blows and deaths, the two little girls do not let themselves be counted and each make their way. Throughout the seasons, we discover their forever linked friendship, the choices and the fate of each…
Read also : Win the novels of Elena Ferrante!