One decade before successfully adapting My Brilliant Friend, Saverio Costanzo had tried to acquire the adaptation rights for The Lost Daughter, the fourth work by Elena Ferrante, but after dozens of exchanged emails through the agent of the Italian author and sending several script drafts, he failed to convince her to grant him the rights.

In 2018, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal contacted Ferrante with the same purpose. She told her she had felt deeply connected to her novel and expressed her desire to tell that story while maintaining the emotional and complex essence of the book. Ferrante agreed to grant the adaptation rights but with one condition: besides writing the script, she had to direct the movie, otherwise, she would consider the contract null and void.

Gyllenhal had never directed before, but she had convinced the author with her vision and sensitivity. Also, for Ferrante, it was important that another woman took the reins of this story, as she wanted her work to be reinterpreted from a female and personal perspective. 

They maintained correspondence throughout the adaptation process, and the author provided Gyllenhal with notes on the script, encouraging her to make the story her own because she trusted her completely. 

She had a good eye. What would be the actress' first film as a writer and director was released three years later, in September 2021, at the Venice Film Festival, where she received absolute acclaim from critics and audiences, as well as the award for best script of that edition. At the Oscars, she was nominated in the categories of best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress, and best lead actress.

What It's About

During her summer vacation in Greece, Leda (Olivia Colman) becomes obsessed with Nina (Dakota Johnson), a young woman she sees from afar on the beach with her little daughter. Her image evokes memories of the time when she was the same age (Jessie Buckley plays young Leda), when she was dealing with the challenges of motherhood and raising her two daughters. 

From that moment on, a constant play of dualities unfolds that work as a mirror and counterpoint, gradually revealing the origin of Leda's melancholy. Of a guilt she thought she had overcome. A complex and highly contradictory guilt.

Maggie Gyllenhaal's adaptation has been praised for its emotional complexity and introspective vision of motherhood, based on internal struggles rather than external conflicts. Also, like Ferrante, she doesn't judge her characters or try to justify them. And her direction is solid, demonstrating a unique voice and intention in every creative decision.

Regarding the performances, the three actresses, Colman, Buckley, and Johnson, are extraordinary and deliver an intimate, subtle, profound, and nuanced work. Undoubtedly, a great adaptation of Elena Ferrante's magnificent and complex work and one of the most exceptional films in recent years. A must-see. 

*This article has been automatically translated using artificial intelligence.