As someone who has experienced the raw power of nature through earthquakes, I must admit that I felt a tinge of disappointment when watching the portrayal of the seismic event in this episode. The visual medium has an extraordinary capacity to immerse us in the sensory experience of such cataclysmic events, yet it seemed to me that the show missed an opportunity to truly evoke the overwhelming scale and terror of the moment for Lenù and Lila.
On November 23, 1980, an extremely powerful earthquake hit Southern Italy, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale. This devastating event led to over 2,700 fatalities. In Conza della Campania, the destruction was so extreme that it unearthed the ruins of an old Roman city. For the first time in a long while, Lenù and Lila experienced the quake together, without their children or partners present. The earthquake had a profound impact on Lila; not only did it leave her physically scarred, but it also caused a spiritual upheaval, leaving her feeling emotionally broken. This event marked a significant turning point in their relationship as their dependence on each other intensified, particularly in the absence of their families.
In many instances, Lila appears unyielding and indomitable, but now she’s filled with fear and doubt. It’s unusual to see Lila appear vulnerable like this, so Lenù keeps a mental note of these instances. For example, the time when it seemed as if Lila made a copper pot explode with telekinesis or when a poster of her in the shoe store suddenly caught fire, possibly due to her anger. On New Year’s Eve 1958, during their gathering, the Solaras fired off fireworks and Lila lost her balance. More recently, she struggled under the harsh conditions at the Soccavo factory. Regardless of the time that passes between them, Lila’s breakdowns are always significant, affecting her surroundings profoundly. Although people claim the real issue lies within her mind, a breaking point always coincides with a change in her environment.
To clarify, the earthquake isn’t depicted until halfway through the episode. Initially, Lenù and Lila are seen shopping for maternity clothes together with Alfonso, who seems to get along well with Lila, making Lenù feel excluded. This feeling intensifies when Lila flirtatiously suggests that Alfonso needs to make sure her dress fits perfectly. Excitedly, Alfonso tries on the dress himself, captivated by his reflection. As the scene unfolds, it becomes apparent to Lenù that Lila and Alfonso are engaged in a role-playing game. Their physical resemblance, which is harder to appreciate on screen than in writing, symbolizes a deep connection between them. When Alfonso mentions that Michele will be thrilled when he sees him in the dress, it becomes clear that the goal of this game is to transfer Michele’s obsession with Lila onto Alfonso, who is more than willing to take his place. It’s almost like a Tom Ripley scenario where everyone in the room feels both murderous intent and sexual desire towards each other.
As they stroll home intertwined, Lenù and Lila giggle like teenagers, giddy with the thrill of pushing boundaries. However, Lenù ruins the moment by mentioning that she must leave to attend to her children at home. This leaves Lila feeling hurt, as she perceives Lenù’s reluctance to spend time together as a fear of blending their two worlds – her role as a mother with her neighborhood experiences. Before they part ways, they encounter Gigliola who is visibly upset by Michele’s abusive behavior towards her. Over coffee, Gigliola reveals that Michele had encouraged her to jump off the balcony and even attempted to bribe her with money for forgiveness. As she recounts her mistreatment, Gigliola becomes more enraged and advises Lila to keep her baby as long as possible since seeing Lila’s pregnancy seems to distress Michele. Gigliola is subtly hinting at Lila’s extraordinary ability to influence events, but it’s also evident that she is distressed and possibly intoxicated. Despite this, her words trouble Lila. By the time they finish their conversation, Lila has bent a spoon nearly in half.
The relationship between Lila’s mind and her pregnancies has been uneasy at least since her neighbors perceived an early miscarriage as a display of her unusually strong power of will. Now, years later at the gynecologist, she agonizes. Her belly is too big; it makes her feel weak and annoys her. The doctor tells her there is nothing wrong with her pregnancy, only with her head, which is tormented in the way only geniuses’ minds are. The doctor learned this from their mutual friend, Nino, who recommended they come to this practice. Finding out about this connection angers Lila. “Your lover is certainly not my friend,” she tells Lenù. “And in my view, he’s not your friend, either.” Lila storms off before she can explain more, leaving Lenù to wonder what, beyond the obvious, she is suggesting.
When Nino returns home (once more arriving late and finding food ready), Leonora, or Lenù, is irritated. She’s curious as to why the gynecologist seems to know so much about her and Lila’s private affairs and whether Nino would have spoken so intimately with a doctor if she were not a woman. Questioning Nino’s constant flirting makes Lenù question the reason for their relationship. “What am I to you?” she inquires. “Why do I tolerate this situation?” Neither of them can provide satisfactory answers to these questions. Though we all suspect that Nino is both a liar and a cheater, I believe Lenù may be slightly paranoid. When Lila states, “That man isn’t your friend,” she might simply be expressing her mistrust and encouraging her friend to see the truth about how she’s being treated. However, Lenù is convinced that there’s something more at play, as if there needs to be something more—the man has two families! Lenù remains persistent, so she goes straight to Lila’s office to ask her directly what’s happening.
In a waiting room sits a gruff fellow named Rino, who Lenù hasn’t seen in years. He appears rough, anxious, and fidgety, with scabs covering his arms. He berates Lila for making him wait so long before storming off, replaced by Antonio, who exits Lila’s office. Antonio is friendly yet enigmatic; he informs Lenù that everyone in the neighborhood admires her, as if to show respect. This interaction, along with other subtle cues, suggests to Lenù that something unusual is occurring. Although Lila assures her it has no connection to her, she senses that there might be a secret at play. As they return to Lila’s house, various hints gradually fall into place, much like the pieces of a puzzle Lenù had noticed while observing Lila and Alfonso. People in the neighborhood treat Lila as if she were a high-ranking official such as the pope, mayor, or Mafia boss. They greet her, request favors, and even the baker doesn’t want her to pay for her pastries. If Lila wanted something from someone, she would simply take it without hesitation.
At Lila’s residence, Lenù persistently prompts Lila for an explanation: Marcello has always remembered the incident from their childhood – she threatened him with a knife after he made an inappropriate and vulgar advance towards Lenù – and Michele is so smitten with her that he pursues “the echo of her echo,” which refers to Alfonso. Additionally, Marcello has introduced drugs into the neighborhood, the same drugs Rino is using – and by extension, the drugs Lenù’s brothers Peppe and Gianni are also involved with. Earlier, when Lenù had asked Lila to hire her brothers at her workplace, Lila refused, citing that she already has too much on her plate with Rino. Despite it being November, a dampness hovers over the two women as they move with their babies and strive for a comfortable position. As soon as Lenù directly asks about Nino, the world seems to tremble.
Lila is paralyzed with fear by the earthquake; Lenù has to half-carry her downstairs and out of the building. The tremors are over in a few seconds, but the anticipation of an aftershock sends the neighborhood’s inhabitants outside. The two women take shelter in Lila’s car, and her vision becomes blurry; she is there in body but elsewhere in her mind, incapable of moving through the practical necessities of an emergency. Out the window, Lenù spots familiar faces — Alfonso rushes by, carrying his children; Antonio holds his wife; her mother and father sit in the back seat of Marcello and Elisa’s car. As they begin to move, Lila gets the impression that Marcello’s car is literally hurtling toward them, which launches her into the dissolving-boundaries monologue.
In the tetralogy, one pivotal scene for Lila’s character unfolds where she directly shares her inner thoughts with Lenù, providing insight into Lila’s complex emotional state. This is a departure from Lenù’s previous assumptions about Lila’s mind. This scene sheds light on Lila’s turbulence and her recurring shifts between conviction and uncertainty. In a rush of emotion, Lila reveals to Lenù that she perceives the world as fragile, with boundaries being blurred like thin cotton threads. Lila’s fear stems from this perceived dissolution. This fear drives her intense focus, as she seeks to maintain control over her life. The men she becomes close to serve as protective barriers against these devastating moments. Lila harbors self-doubt, viewing herself as bad and wicked, a belief reinforced by her former teacher, Maestra Oliviero. Despite this perceived brittleness being mental, it remains inescapable. Lila’s intensity often leads to the destruction of delicate relationships and emotions such as love and friendship.
Lenù ponders that Lila’s essence, her core, is perpetually unsteady and susceptible to the kind of quake that recently rocked their world to its very core. This moment stands out significantly because, while maintaining a connection to historical events, Elena Ferrante skillfully captures an apt portrayal of Lila’s tumultuous inner being: she is always in sync with her environment, but when Southern Italy experiences a seismic rupture, so does Lila, releasing everything within her, and for the first time, Lenù gains a clearer understanding of her friend, who, in her organized nature, is Lila’s polar opposite.
Regrettably, the series doesn’t fully convey the emotional depth or the profound impact of the earthquake on Lila and Lenù’s relationship as seen in the book. Viewers don’t fully get a sense of Lila’s thoughts, something that Lenù has always yearned for. Although Irene Maiorino’s breathless speech fits the scene, it seems too calculated, which contradicts the spontaneous nature of Lila’s sudden confession. The earthquake is portrayed as less terrifying than it should be, and the camera focuses too much on Lila and Lenù, neglecting to show the broader implications of the disaster. Given that the series has skillfully adapted its source material so far, the representation of the earthquake falls short, missing an opportunity to immerse viewers in the overwhelming scale of the event using the visual medium’s potential for multi-sensory impact.
In the morning, Lenù discovers that Lila isn’t in the car with her. The entire neighborhood is on alert, waiting for the right moment to enter their homes. Lenù encounters Lila standing mysteriously in the middle of the street, and Lila apologizes for her previous outburst while expressing gratitude for their time together. From a public phone, Lila tries to contact Enzo and Gennaro in Avellino, but receives no reply. Lenù also attempts to reach Nino at home, only to find that he’s not there either. With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, Lila advises Lenù to call Eleonora instead, but there’s no answer from her as well. Lila proposes they drive to Nino’s house, but Lenù hesitates. Lenù contacts Pietro first, who is kind-hearted and offers to watch the girls for a while longer. He informs them that Avellino was badly affected by something, but Lenù lies about it being nothing significant. Instead, they search for Nino.
At Nino and Eleonora’s apartment complex, some men inform the women that the Sarratore family has departed, just like everyone else. “The world is back to normal,” Lenu murmurs to herself. This incident reminded me of a moment where Nino seemed to falter – another instance of not rising to the occasion. It becomes clear how thoughtless Nino is towards Lenu when, on their drive back to the neighborhood, Lenu and Lila spot Enzo and Gennaro who seem overjoyed to see Lila. In their own way, they form a harmonious family, living in a bond that Lenu cannot access due to her choice of partner. However, Lenu feels a certain warmth seeing that Lila has this support system. She takes a moment before joining them and they spend the rest of the day together. Once again, Lila assumes her position of authority. I’ve rephrased your text in a more conversational and accessible way.
Upon arriving home, Lenù finds an ominously still apartment amidst chaos. Everything seems shattered or strewn about; she gathers a few items but collapses from exhaustion instead. Suddenly, the phone rings, reminiscent of when Nino re-entered her life. Could it be him? Indeed, it is. He’s been trying to reach her from Eleonora’s family’s villa in Minturno. When the earthquake struck, he panicked and fled with his own children. As Lenù listens to this tale, a solitary tear trickles down her cheek. She tells Nino she will call him back later, and as she replaces the receiver, she notices a massive fissure in the wall and ceiling. It’s clear that something significant has fractured within her life. The question is if it can be mended.
In Più
Although I wasn’t overly impressed with how director Laura Bispuri portrayed the earthquake, I found an early scene in the episode particularly noteworthy. This scene took place outside a gynecologist’s office where Lenù and Lila were leaving. The camera angle was from above, showing them walking down the stairs out of step so they didn’t meet on each landing, creating an intriguing visual effect.
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2024-10-01 06:54