News

The complex relationship between Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo lies at the heart of My Brilliant Friend. We first met them as clever children navigating poverty and oppression in 1950s Naples. Now adults in the turbulent 1970s, their bond endures despite separate paths.

Elena pursues writing, traveling between Italy and France. But marriage troubles and an affair with Nino strain ties with family. Lila finds success but battles gangsters in her old neighborhood.

Their friendship surprises with turns, as do lives entwined with history. Lila encourages Elena’s ambitions, though envying her escape. Elena admires Lila’s fire, borrowing some rebelliousness.

In Season 4, old dangers materialize amid political turmoil. Elena faces disintegrating dreams with Nino while reconnecting with daughters and the past. Lila confronts roots she can’t quit, seeking empowerment through challenging the powerful.

The series excels at depicting lives shaped by location and era and their affection transcending rivalry.

If you've been a fan of Italian series My Brilliant Friend, you'll definitely want to tune in to the fourth and final season of the show. So when exactly can you start watching? We've got all the details for you so you don't miss an episode!

My Brilliant Friend season 4 premieres tonight, Sept. 9, 2024, at 9 p.m. Et on HBO and Max. That's right. If you'd like to stream the series, then you'll need to wait until later tonight as well since the release time apples to both the television debut and streaming release. One new episode will air/stream on Mondays at that time until the series finale on Nov. 11. Check out the episode release schedule below:

Episode 1, "The Separation" - Sept. 9Episode 2 - Sept. 16Episode 3 - Sept. 23Episode 4 - Sept. 30Episode 5 - Oct. 7Episode 6 - Oct. 14Episode 7 - Oct. 21Episode 8 - Oct. 28Episode 9 - Nov. 4Episode 10 - Nov. 11Episode...

From Naples to Gotham City, let Max pick your end-of-summer destination!

This September, leading up to the release of the highly anticipated HBO Original series “The Penguin,” starring Colin Farrell as Batman’s avian antagonist, Max has also curated a “DC Universe” collection, including the Michael Keaton-led “Batman” films beginning with 1989’s “Batman,” the hit adult-animated series “Harley Quinn,” and the 11-time Emmy-winning “Watchmen,” among many others.

But beyond Gotham, it’s a busy month for HBO and Max, which will premiere the fourth and final season of “My Brilliant Friend,” based on Elena Ferrante’s novels, as well as the two-part Original Documentary “Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos,” an up-close look at the creative process behind the cultural phenomenon and HBO anchor.

Also new to the streamer’s collection this month are several titles from Discovery, Food Network, and more, including Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki...

The final season of the drama series “My Brilliant Friend”, based on the novels of Elena Ferrante, is directed by Laura Bispuri, starring Alba Rohrwacher, Irene Maiorino, Fabrizio Gifuni, Stefano Dionisi, Anna Rita Vitolo, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Daria Deflorian, Lino Musella, Eduardo Scarpetta Pesce and Sonia Bergamasco, streaming September 9, 2024 on Max:

“…the series follows ‘Elena Greco’ and the most important friend in her life, ‘Raffaella Lila Cerullo’. After meeting as children in 1950’s Naples, their story goes on to cover over 60 years, exploring the mystery of Lila - Elena's brilliant best friend and, in a way, her worst enemy.

“They now find themselves entangled in the turmoil of Italy in the late 1980’s, nearing the end of decades of political violence and social unrest. Amid motherhood and career demands, amid betrayals, threats, disappearances and natural disasters, Elena and Lila once again reside in the same neighborhood…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

HBO has released the official trailer and key art for the fourth and final season of the critically acclaimed original drama series My Brilliant Friend, which will debut on Monday, September 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m. Et/Pt). The 10-episode season will be available on HBO and Max. New episodes debut weekly.

Based on Elena Ferrante’s bestselling novels, My Brilliant Friend follows Elena Greco and the most important friend in her life, Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo. After meeting as children in 1950s Naples, their story goes on to cover over 60 years, exploring the mystery of Lila – Elena’s brilliant best friend and, in a way, her worst enemy.

The fourth installment of the saga, “Story of the Lost Child,” delves into the adult lives of Elena and Lila. They find themselves entangled in the turmoil of Italy in the late 1980s, nearing the end of decades of political violence and social unrest.

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, TVLine may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Elena is returning to a nearly unrecognizable Naples in My Brilliant Friend Season 4.

More from TVLineHow to Watch Saturday's NFL Triple-Header OnlineWicked Gets Digital Release Date - Find Out Where and When You Can Stream It OnlineDune: Prophecy Team Unpacks Finale Twists ('Everything Has Changed') - and Valya's 'Exciting' New Destination

HBO released a trailer for the adaptation’s fourth and final season on Thursday, and in it,...

HBO has released the official trailer for the fourth and final season of the critically acclaimed original drama series My Brilliant Friend. It premieres Monday, September at 9 p.m. on HBO and streaming on Max. New episodes will debut every Monday. Watch the trailer above.

Created by Saverio Costanzo, based on Elena Ferrante’s bestselling novels, My Brilliant Friend follows Elena Greco (Alba Rohrwacher) and the most important friend in her life, Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo (Irene Maiorino). After meeting as children in 1950s Naples, their story goes on to cover over 60 years, exploring the mystery of Lila – Elena’s brilliant best friend and, in a way, her worst enemy.

The fourth installment, titled “Story of the Lost Child,” delves into the adult lives of Elena and Lila. They find themselves entangled in the turmoil of Italy in the late 1980s, nearing the end of decades of political violence and social unrest.

When renowned Italian auteur Marco Bellocchio called up his friend, fellow Italian auteur Marco Tullio Giordana (“Best of Youth”), about a project years in the making, the director promptly jumped on board. The resulting film is “The Life Apart,” premiering out of competition at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, where Giordana will also receive a Lifetime Achievement Pardo.

Adapted from Mariapia Veladiano’s acclaimed eponymous novel, “The Life Apart” is set in the Italian city of Vicenza between the 1980s and 2000s, where a young girl is shunned by her mother due to a large facial birthmark. Rebecca, played by Sara Ciocca as a child and Beatrice Barison as a young woman, finds solace in the piano, a talent she discovers with the help of her aunt and patron Erminia (Sonia Bergamasco).

“[Bellocchio] asked me to read the screenplay and I just loved it. Then I read the novel and...

HBO has announced that the fourth and final season of its original drama series My Brilliant Friend will debut on Monday, September 9 (9:00-10:00 p.m. Et/Pt). The 10-episode season will be available on HBO and Max. New episodes debut weekly.

Based on the bestselling novels by Elena Ferrante, My Brilliant Friend follows Elena Greco and the most important friend in her life, Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo. After meeting as children in 1950s Naples, their story goes on to cover over 60 years, exploring the mystery of Lila – Elena’s brilliant best friend and, in a way, her worst enemy.

The fourth installment of the saga, titled “Story of the Lost Child,” delves into the adult lives of Elena and Lila. They find themselves entangled in the turmoil of Italy in the late 1980s, nearing the end of decades of political violence and social unrest.

Amid motherhood and career demands,...

Rome-based Intramovies has clinched further key sales on the Swedish pic “Paradise is Burning” for which rising talent Mika Gustafson won best director and writer at the 2023 Venice Orizzonti.

The coming-of-age drama was sold to Conic in the U.K. and Ireland, HBO Max for Eastern Europe (TV and VOD rights), Leopardo Filmes in Portugal, Providence/Belas Artes Grupo Brazil, and Mongsang in South Korea.

The story turns on young siblings Laura, Mira and Steffi, who live a totally free and wild life with no parental supervision. When social services intervene, the eldest sister, Laura (Bianca Delbravo-best actress for her role at Lisbon & Estoril Fest), tries to convince the recently befriended Hanna (Ida Engvoll of Netflix’s “Love & Anarchy”) to be the sisters’ stand-in mother.

“The very talented Swedish director Mika Gustafson has brilliantly captured a portrait of adolescence,” commented Mongsang’s CEO Jihyun Min. “Paradise Is Burning...

Italian auteur Marco Tullio Giordana, best known internationally for sweeping terrorism-themed epic “The Best of Youth” (2003) is set to soon return behind the camera on “La Vita Accanto” a psychological drama about a talented young woman contending with profound rejection due to her looks.

Shooting is set to start on June 5 in Vicenza, Northern Italy, on “Vita Accanto,” (the title can be translated as “the life beside”) which is co-written and produced by Marco Bellocchio – the Italian master who is currently competing for a Cannes Palm d’Or with “Kidnapped.”

Italy’s Intramovies has started launching pre-sales on “Vita Accanto” in Cannes.

Giordana’s new project is based on an eponymous prizewinning novel by Italian writer Mariapia Veladiano about a girl named Rebecca who from the very moment of birth becomes ostracized by her family and the world around her “because she does not conform to aesthetic canons [of beauty],” Giordana told Variety.

Unhappy Together: Bertolucci’s Muted Return to the Director’s Seat

Seemingly against the odds, wheelchair bound Bernardo Bertolucci arrives with his first directorial effort, Me and You, in a decade, his last being the controversial 2003 film, The Dreamers. Also of note, it’s the first Italian language film Bertolucci’s made in thirty years, adding additional significance to this late work from the master provocateur. Yet, as arresting as its visuals are, paired with an odd mix of youthful soundtrack selections, the film never elevates beyond a sometimes ungainly and trifling exploration of themes and relationships exhibited more daringly and memorably in other works. Creative child artists recovering from years of drug abuse and the specter of incest amongst families of the privileged class promise a thickening soup, yet never congeal into anything more than a basic broth of domestic bonds.

Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) is an introverted 14 year...

Title: Me & You (Io e Te) Director: Bernardo Bertolucci Starring: Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Tea Falco, Sonia Bergamasco, Veronica Lazar, Tommaso Ragno, Pippo Delbono. When it comes to Bernardo Bertolucci, undoubtably the expectations are very high: he shocked with ‘Last Tango In Paris,’ enchanted with ‘The Last Emperor’ and had a great come back with ‘The Dreamers’ in 2003. Now the Italian Maestro returns with a story on borderline siblings. Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori), a quirky 14-year-old loner who has difficult relationships with his parents and peers, decides to take a break from it all by hiding in his building’s neglected basement, when everyone thinks he’s skiing with his classmates [ Read More ]

The post Me & You (Io e Te) Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Rebellion | Promised Land | Evil Dead | Olympus Has Fallen | Love Is All You Need | Me And You | F*ck For Forest | Bait | The Words

Rebellion (15)

(Mathieu Kassovitz, 2011, Fra) Mathieu Kassovitz, Iabe Lapacas, Malik Zidi. 135 mins

Working with a real-life 1980s incident in New Caledonia (not dissimilar to a French Falklands), Kassovitz crafts a thoughtful thriller with no heroes, only good intentions compromised by colonialist mistrust and distant politics. His negotiator is set between a hair-triggered French military and separatist rebels, but with an election back home, not everyone wants a peaceful outcome.

Promised Land (15)

(Gus Van Sant, 2012, Us/UAE) Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Frances McDormand. 107 mins

With fracking as the central concern, this finds it hard to avoid being an "issue movie", but there's some human drama to it. Damon's gas agent comes to an archetypal small town with a buyout in mind, but the locals and their country ways get to him.

Bernardo Bertolucci‘s latest, Me and You, is the director’s first Italian language film for 30 years, seeking to show that the Italian has never lost touch with his ability to translate adolescent concerns on screen after an enforced absence from the industry, and while the film is tonally quite impressive, it lacks engagement and feels like little more than an over-stretched short story concept, imbued with the kind of self-importance that dilutes any kind of enduring message. The spartan, surprisingly high-concept story focuses on Lorenzo (Jacopo Olmo Antinori), a troubled 14-year-old who lives on the outskirts of his school’s social cliques and prefers his own company, who spends a week living hidden in the basement of his home, having told his concerned mother (Sonia Bergamasco) that he is going on a school skiing trip. His holiday away from the horrors of normal life is spoiled somewhat when his half-sister Olivia (Tea Falco) turns up out...

Bernardo Bertolucci shows Cannes he's still a force to be reckoned with via this slight but intimate and charged two-hander

The spirit of the new wave is revived (albeit in apolitical form) by the 72-year-old Bernardo Bertolucci in his new film, a slight but engaging two-hander showing out of competition in Cannes. It's an intimate, disorientating and highly charged encounter between a young man and an older woman, who find themselves having to share a cramped basement flat which they cannot leave for one week. There are resonances with the director's The Dreamers, his adaptation of Gilbert Adair's novel, and perhaps even with Last Tango In Paris.

Lorenzo, played by Jacopo Olmo Antinori, is a disturbed 14-year-old boy who hates school, and whose mother Arianna (Sonia Bergamasco) sends him to a psychotherapist. Mother and son lunch together at restaurants, where Lorenzo speculates, inappropriately, as to whether other people there think they are a couple,...

Toronto International Film Festival

Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.

Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.

The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world

the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s

the ups and downs of the economy

the Falcone assassination in 1992

and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.

Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.

At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.

Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.

Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.

While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.

Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.

Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.

Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.

THE BEST OF YOUTH

Miramax Films

Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production

Credits:

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana

Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli

Producer: Angelo Barbagallo

Director of photography: Roberto Forza

Production designer: Franco Ceraolo

Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo

Editor: Roberto Missiroli

Cast:

Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio

Matteo: Alessio Boni

Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco

Carlo: Fabrizio

Mirella: Maya Sansa

Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti

Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca

Angelo: Andrea Tidona

Running time -- 373 minutes

No MPAA rating...

Toronto International Film Festival

Spanning four decades in late 20th century Italy, Marco Tullio Giordana's "The Best of Youth" (La Meglio Gioventu) focuses on the intimate lives of two brothers who take divergent paths, as well as those of friends, lovers and children whose ideals are challenged by events and tragedies in their lives.

Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli approach their screenplay in a novelistic manner, using a six-hour-plus running time to layer in the details of these lives. This recent Miramax acquisition was originally filmed for Italian television, which explains the length of a movie presented theatrically in two parts. The film proved a major theatrical hit in Italy, but its length limits North American boxoffice to dedicated cineastes and festivalgoers. They will be amply rewarded.

The film begins in 1966, the year of the flood in Florence that brought out legions of young people determined to save that city's heritage of art and literature. It ends in the present day, which contains the film's only hint of magic realism. These years encompass the political upheaval of 1968 in Western Europe, where young people felt they could change the world

the tragedy of terrorism in the 1970s

the ups and downs of the economy

the Falcone assassination in 1992

and diversion of many characters' energies into family life and coming to terms with feelings of alienation and regret.

Of the brothers we meet in 1966, Matteo (Alessio Boni) is the more withdrawn and sullen, a man sensitive to the wrongs of society but one prone to fits of temper and frustration when things don't go his way. Nicola Luigi Lo Cascio) is more open and loving, at ease with women but reserved, engaged with the world and a seeker of love.

At a job in a mental hospital, Matteo meets Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), a severely disturbed young woman who is being given electroshock therapy, the barbarity of which outrages him. When he, his brother and two pals take off on a summer trip to Norway, Matteo kidnaps Giorgia with the vague idea of rescuing her and returning her to her family. Only the family doesn't want her, and police pick her up at a train station.

Discouraged, Matteo abandons Nicola to return to Rome and impulsively joins the army rather than continuing with his studies. Nicola makes his way to Norway, where, out of money, he takes work in a lumber mill. He returns home to help in the flood in Florence, where he meets Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), a free-spirited woman who becomes his lover and mother of his child, Sara.

Perhaps inspired by his encounter with Giorgia, Nicola pursues a career in psychiatry in Turin. Meanwhile, Matteo's career in the army and police -- jobs he seeks because they have "rules" -- is often jeopardized by a rebellious streak and violent behavior.

While on duty in Sicily in the late '70s, Matteo meets Mirella (Maya Sansa), a young photographer he will later encounter in Rome. They have a brief affair before tragedy overtakes Matteo. Meanwhile, Giulia becomes increasingly radicalized and deserts Nicola and Sara to enter the shadowy world of terrorism. Eventually, Nicola is faced with the decision of whether to aid police in capturing his ex-lover before she kills someone.

Perhaps the strongest influence here is Francois Truffaut in his early "Jules et Jim" period. For Giordana is less interested in social and political history than in how people fall in and out of love, how families operate and the role friendships play in the characters' lives. Giordana moves beyond psychology, viewing characters' behavior without trying to fully understand or explain them.

Lo Cascio and Boni inhabit their roles with keen intellectual and emotional vigor. Bergamasco and Sansa deliver sensitive portraits of conflicted women who struggle to bridge the gap between personal desires and responsibilities to others.

Production designer Franco Ceraolo and cinematographer Roberto Forza, shooting in Super 16mm, ably convey the changing landscape of Italy. The film's soundtrack consists in large measure of terrific pop songs from different eras.

THE BEST OF YOUTH

Miramax Films

Rai Radiotelevisione Italiana presents a Rai Fiction production

Credits:

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana

Screenwriters: Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli

Producer: Angelo Barbagallo

Director of photography: Roberto Forza

Production designer: Franco Ceraolo

Costume designer: Elisabetta Montaldo

Editor: Roberto Missiroli

Cast:

Nicola: Luigi Lo Cascio

Matteo: Alessio Boni

Giulia: Sonia Bergamasco

Carlo: Fabrizio

Mirella: Maya Sansa

Francesca: Valentina Carnelutti

Giorgia: Jasmine Trinca

Angelo: Andrea Tidona

Running time -- 373 minutes

No MPAA rating...