My Brilliant Friend

 
 I did an original review of the first three seasons of the HBO distributed series in  Feb 2023. The fourth and final season (The Story of the Lost Child) released this year has just concluded. The entire series spanning four years of production time.  Carrying on from the previous seasons the story continues the complex and sometimes tortured relationship between Elenor Grecco (Alba Rohrwacher) and Raffaella Cerulla (Irene Maiorino).  Elenor being the narrator and writer of their lives together. It’s a lifetimes story spanning their childhood into their old age. A vast complex detailed telling. The Tv productions being faithful to the original four volume set of books. What prevents this from being a giant soap opera, is the skill and authenticity of the original writing by Ferranti and the wisdom of the directors for following that writing so closely and  the actors for bringing their efforts to the screen with such riveting performances.

488 stars