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My Brilliant Friend: The Subtle Art of Max Richter
by Mark Walker
There’s a moment in the second episode of the HBO-RAI TV series My Brilliant Friend that encapsulates for me everything about the subtle art of Max Richter’s film scoring. In a pivotal sequence the two young girls, Lila and Elena, decide to venture outside of their Neapolitan ghetto for the very first time. It is, naturally, Lila’s idea. She’s the daring, wilful, feisty one; contrast with middle-of-the-road Elena, always afraid to challenge the status quo, yet irresistibly fascinated by the allure of her brilliant friend. The scene is richly symbolic and tells us much about the relationship between the pair that will develop – in the course of Elena Ferrante’s wonderful novels and in this astonishingly faithful and utterly riveting TV adaptation – throughout their lives into adulthood and old age. As the girls pass under the ominous railway bridge – a literal and metaphorical gateway to the outside world – they hold hands, they shout joyfully making echoes in the tunnel, they are excited about the journey ahead.
Richter scores all this initially with just a piano – simple arpeggios, a very simple melody, his wistful motif for Elena and Lila in fact. As the girls walk along the dusty highway, the string ensemble joins in, solemn legato chords enhance the feeling of melancholy. This seems odd at first, since the trip has begun with such apparent optimism. Then, as thunderclouds build overhead and we see Lila start to drag her feet, there’s a touch of magic – a solo violin takes over the poignant melody, soaring above the ensemble. The music has been telling us all along that this is not going to be the jolly adventure we and the characters had imagined. Read more…
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