Get the latest gossip

Finding the ‘Crack of Humanity’ in My Brilliant Friend


As the eponymous friend, Irene Maiorino discusses her role in the Ferrante adaptation’s most pivotal sequence.

It’s the moment that gives the final book the ominous title The Story of the Lost Child and leaves Lenù (played in the fourth season by Alba Rohrwacher) to reckon with Lila’s (Irene Maiorino) near-mythical breakdown. In the face of tragedy, the armor protecting her interior fragility comes undone, and the same intense force of will that may or may not have exploded a copper pot or ignited fire to a poster directs itself inward. She doesn’t say anything, but you can see all these emotions in your face: She’s angry, she’s sad, she’s maybe feeling guilty about her responsibility — she encouraged this violent relationship between Alfonso and Michele Solara.

Get the Android app

Or read this on VULTURE