by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
While trying to dodge the landmines strewn about the January release schedule, little did I know I had stumbled across a project from one of the hottest authors of recent years when it comes to adaptations.
The Italian series, The Lying Life of Adults,comes to Netflix from the pages of a novel penned by Elena Ferrante (pseudonym), the creative force behind the HBO’s My Brilliant Friend and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter. With such an in demand name included, it gave me hope that we might get something special.
But alas, January is where pop culture hope comes to die.
Alright, fine, it’s not bad per se, but having given myself hope that I’d found something I might be able to enjoy, I found the six-episode miniseries to be a disappointment. It follows Giovanna (Giordana Marengo), a teen growing in Naples in the mid ‘90s who tries to navigate figuring out who she is and who she wants amidst familial friction, including reconnecting with her estranged aunt (Valeria Golino) and exploring her sexuality.
Much of what this series has going for it comes from its technical aspects.
The cinematography does a fantastic job of giving you a sense for Naples as a city. It’s not just as simple as showcasing some breathtaking seascapes (though it certainly takes advantages of those shots when the opportunity arises). There’s a class element to the show between the haves, have nots, and those somewhere in between. Given that delineation, there’s a marked difference with what the cinematography showcases between the affluent end of Naples and the grungier areas of town, but both are beautiful in their own ways.
Something I wasn’t expecting to appreciate as much as I did was the choice of music. Though there are a couple of songs that are pretty universally recognizable, like Edith Piaf’s “Non, je ne regrette rien,” I myself am a little rusty on my Italian discography, which makes up a lot of the soundtrack. Despite my unfamiliarity, and, well, not really understanding what was said, I still enjoyed the creative choices made by that department.
The major issue with the narrative is that I had trouble connecting with the characters at the heart of it. There are a lot of people in this tale who aren’t people I’m likely to root for (particularly our adult characters), and that becomes even more challenging as the almost incestuous web of the relationships develops. Even outside some of the lying adults, the characters that intrigued me, like Gianna and her aunt, I found frustrating at points with their decision making. It’s not helped by the pacing in that regard, which can make changes in character’s relationships seem like they come out of nowhere.
Divorcing the performances from the characters themselves, I do think there’s some good work being done here, but without being able to invest emotionally in the characters, it’s hard to invest in the show as a whole when its largely a character piece.
Having spoken earlier about how popular Ferrante projects have become, I found myself flashing back to a different Netflix project from Italy while consuming this: The Hand of God. Still set in Naples, just a decade or so earlier, the film explored some of the same subject matter from the male perspective, and I likewise struggled with connecting with the family at the heart of the story, despite the stunning visuals. What ticked that one over the edge into at least a low like it for me was the emotional punch that it was able to land. That’s missing here.
The end result was an overwhelming “meh,” despite how much I wanted to will myself to try to like it.
I generally find myself drawn in to coming-of-age stories, but maybe it’s time to decline the next time the Italian coastline comes calling.
Score: 5/10
The Lying Life of Adults is currently streaming on Netflix
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