Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

ENTERTAINMENT

Netflix to adapt latest Elena Ferrante novel – but in what language?

Netflix announced on Tuesday it will adapt the newest novel from Italian writer Elena Ferrante, "The Lying Life of Adults," into a television series.

Published: 13 May 2020 09:11 CEST
Netflix to adapt latest Elena Ferrante novel - but in what language?
Ferrante's previous novels on sale in a bookshop in Rome. Photo: AFP

But there's some uncertainty over the language, as the book itself won't be translated into English until September.

“Netflix and Fandango are joining forces to develop a series based on 'The Lying Life of Adults,' the latest novel by the beloved Italian novelist Elena Ferrante,” the streaming giant said in a statement.

The series will be produced in partnership with Italian production company Fandango, whose founder Domenico Procacci worked on the television adaptation of Ferrante's series “My Brilliant Friend.”

The four-part saga “My Brilliant Friend,” which skyrocketed Ferrante to global fame, was also turned into a series by HBO in collaboration with the Italian national broadcasting channel Rai.

At the end of April, HBO ordered a third season of “My Brilliant Friend.”

The novel on which it is based has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide.

“The Lying Life of Adults” (“La Vita bugiarda degli adulti”) follows the life of Giovanna from childhood to adolescence in the 90s, with – as in Ferrante's previous novels – the city of Naples as the backdrop.

Netflix's statement seemed to imply that the series will be shot in Italy, in Italian – the book's original language.

“The Lying Life of Adults” book was released in November 2019 in Italian, and will be published in 25 languages in September, according to the statement.

Despite the massive success of the “My Brilliant Friend” novels, published between 2011 and 2014 in Italy, Ferrante has never made her identity public and continues to use a pen name.

The most likely candidate, put forward by Italian journalist Claudio Gatti, is Roman translator Anita Raja.

The theory has neither been confirmed nor denied by Ferrante's Italian publisher, Edizioni E/O.

READ ALSO: Five must-read novels that will transport you to Italy

Member comments

  1. Let’s hope it’s done in Italian, orthe Neopolitan dialect. What makes the HBO series of Ferrante’s 4 volume tome about friends so brilliant, is the use of the local dialect. Using any other language would be a shame.

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

MUSIC

Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop

Spanish rapper C. Tangana was taking a big risk when he started mixing old-fashioned influences like flamenco and bossa nova into his hip-hop -- but it's this eclectic sound that has turned him into a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.

Published: 23 May 2021 08:38 CEST
Meet the Spanish rapper bringing flamenco and bossa nova into hip-hop
Spanish rapper Anton Alvarez known as 'C. Tangana' poses in Madrid on April 29, 2021. Photo: Javier Soriano/AFP

The 30-year-old has emerged as one of the world’s biggest Spanish-language stars since his third album “El Madrileno” — the Madrilenian — came out in February. That ranks him alongside his superstar ex-girlfriend Rosalia, the Grammy-winning Catalan singer with whom he has co-written several hits.

C. Tangana, whose real name is Anton Alvarez Alfaro, has come a long way since a decade ago when he became known as a voice of disillusioned Spanish youth in the wake of the financial crisis.These days his rap is infused with everything from reggaeton and rumba to deeply traditional styles from Spain and Latin America, with a voice often digitised by autotune.

“It’s incredible that just when my music is at its most popular is exactly when I’m doing something a bit more complex, more experimental and less
trendy,” he told AFP in an interview.

And he is unashamed to be appealing to a wider audience than previously: his dream is now to make music “that a young person can enjoy in a club or someone older can enjoy at home while cooking”.

‘People are tired’

The rapper, who sports a severe semi-shaved haircut and a pencil moustache, has worked with Spanish flamenco greats including Nino De Elche, Antonio Carmona, Kiko Veneno, La Hungara and the Gipsy Kings.

In April he brought some of them together for a performance on NPR’s popular “Tiny Desk Concert” series, which has already drawn nearly six million
views on YouTube.

Shifting away from trap, one of rap’s most popular sub-genres, and venturing into a more traditional repertoire was a dangerous move — especially for someone with a young fanbase to whom rumba, bossa nova and bolero sound old-fashioned.

“I think people are tired. They’ve had enough of the predominant aesthetic values that have previously defined pop and urban music,” he said.

Parts of his latest album were recorded in Latin America with Cuban guitarist Eliades Ochoa of Buena Vista Social Club, Uruguayan
singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, Mexican folk artist Ed Maverick and Brazil’s Toquinho, one of the bossa nova greats.

“What struck me most everywhere I went was the sense of tradition and the way people experienced the most popular music, and I don’t mean pop,” he said.

A new direction

C. Tangana started out in 2006 rapping under the name Crema. When the global economic crisis swept Spain a few years later, hard-hitting trap was
the perfect way to voice the angst of his generation. But after more than a decade of rapping, things changed.

“When I was heading for my 30s, I hit this crisis, I was a bit fed up with what I was doing… and decided to give voice to all these influences that I
never dared express as a rapper,” he said.

The shift began in 2018 with “Un veneno” (“A poison”) which came out a year after his big hit “Mala mujer” (“Bad woman”).

And there was a return to the sounds of his childhood when he used to listen to Spanish folk songs at home, raised by a mother who worked in
education and a journalist father who liked to play the guitar. The Latin American influences came later.

“It started when I was a teenager with reggaeton and with bachata which were played in the first clubs I went to, which were mostly Latin,” he said.

Studying philosophy at the time, he wrote his first raps between stints working in call centres or fast-food restaurants.

As to what comes next, he doesn’t know. But one thing he hopes to do is collaborate with Natalia Lafourcade, a Mexican singer who dabbles in folk, rock and pop — another jack of all musical trades.

SHOW COMMENTS