Das lügenhafte Leben der Erwachsenen

As "The Lying Lives of Adults" (2023 release from Italy; 6 episodes each of about 50 min) opens, we are introduced to teenager Giovanna and her parents. She overhears her dad lamenting that Giovanna "is becoming a spitting image of my sister", Aunt Vittoria, from whom he's been estranged for years. Giovanna's curiosity is peaked. What has become of Aunt Vittoria? Why is she estranged from the family? At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film adaptation of Italian author Elena Ferrante, best known for her "My Brilliant Friend" saga (also adapted into a TV series). Once again the story is set in Napoli, but this time we are in the mid-90s (we can figure that out from various information in the initial episodes). In this type of series, what makes or brakes it is the storytelling, and once again Ferrera delivers the goods. One cannot help but compare this to "My Brilliant Friend" and it is true that it lacks the epic scale that "My Brilliant Friend" presented, and it also misses the iconic lead performances featured in "My Brilliant Friend". But I found "The Lying Life of Adults" nevertheless to be worth my time and attention.

"The Lying Life of Adults" was released by Netflix a few weeks ago in early January, and I just got around to binge-watching the 6 episodes over 2 consecutive evenings. If you are a fan of "My Brilliant Friend", I'd readily suggest you check this out as well, and draw your own conclusion. If you haven't seen either of "My Brilliant Friend" or "The Lying Life of Adults", I'd suggest you start with "My Brilliant Friend" (to date the TV adaptation of 3 of the 4 books have been released on HBO/HBO Max).

A masterpiece that represents the life of an adolescent in the context of Naples in the 90ties. The characters are beatifully cast in this multilayer drama in which different theme's in a fascinating way are connected. The coming of age, the tensions between social classes, family conflicts against a background of various aspects of the architecture of Naples, from villa's at the beach till depressing industry compounds. Never a dull moment. If you like Italy and the culture you ate well served. But don't expect an ameticanlike fast food movie with unilineair characters and easy digesting storylines. But if you are ready gor this Italian experience you will not be disappointed.

Transferring Elena Ferrante's books onto the screen is not an easy endeavour; they are not plot driven stories, actually the plot is at times so thin to be barely perceivable. There's a lot of soul searching, introspection, her prose is harsh as sandpaper, her characters are flawed, tormented (and sometimes tormenting) people. All these - and many more - fine ingredients conjure up pretty unique and atmospheric ambiences. And, as I said, transferring this complex bundle of intangible elements into a movie is hard.

The operation has worked wonderfully once already (with The Lost Daughter, with a superb Olivia Colman) and it is working partially in The Lying Life Of The Adults. The are several remarkable things in this production: the acting is pretty good across the board and it succeeds in bring to life a gallery of strong characters. The portrayal of Naples is very realistic, never falling into clichés of caricatures. And finally, the underlying feeling of uneasiness which pervades the story is rendered very well.

On the less positive side, a good editing would have cut down significantly this production to 4 episodes max. Lastly, I thought the presence of the soundtrack was rather intrusive, it was one song after the other, and I found it detracted from the pensiveness of some situations.

This series provides a rare opportunity to experience something real while watching Netflix.

You will find complex characters that develop, rather than resolve; moral dilemmas that are not black and white; a study on hypocrisy; theme of forgiveness/moving on/acceptance of humanity in all its flawed glory.. and all of it is set against the backdrop of grimy, sketchy Naples in the 90s - which looks pretty much opposite to the "eat-pray-love" kind of Italy.

Each episode was thought provoking for multiple reasons, and I devoured the series the way I devour cold coconut water on a hot summer day.

I docked a star for the horrendous musical score.

This series is spellbinding. The narrative of coming of age is been done, but not like this series. It's filled with passion, loss, betrayals and pain. Director Angelis takes you on a journey that is exacting in adult hypocrisy concerning life and the chasms of growing up. The aunt played by Valeria Golino, spectacular performance as a jaded woman who lives her life fully but with pain brings her niece played by Giordana Marengo, who by the way is the female Timothy Chalamet brings a freshness to her role as tormented teenage figuring out her loyalties. Netflix did a wonderful job on this one.