My Brilliant Friend
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Some of the most defining moments in Lila and Lenus friendship were the result of collaborative action.
In The Investigation, a spirit of collaboration returns to their friendship.
With children, reputations, jobs, and apartments to lose, the risk of action is much greater.
In recent years, Lila has learned how to play their game.
Its Lila who tells her the news over coffee at the hospital.
But then again, okay its not a crime to dedicate oneself to ones career.
God knows thats what Pietro did.
She took care of Imma, holding her all night through the fever.
At the gas pump, she only finds Roberto, her husband.
Seeing Antonio, she hopes to gain some clarity.
All he can tell her about the lawsuit is that the lawyers involved are the Solaras.
Dede notices this, too.
Lenu tries to console her daughter to no avail and also fails to ascertain whether Elsas accusation is true.
But what about the time when Lenu wrote about the conditions at the Soccavo factory and made a difference?
Lila wants Lenu to merge the two spheres of her life.
The sophisticated public intellectual might just be the hero who can finally bring down the neighborhoods villains.
Either way, Lila is angry and distraught at Alfonsos death.
At Basic Sight, she loses her balance and eventually falls on the floor.
Of course not, Carmen scoffs all publicity is good publicity.
Lila wants to know from Marcello and Michele if they suddenly grew a conscience.
She tells them that their time in the neighborhood is up they should just leave.
Marcello brushes her off, but Michele takes the bait.
Marcello tries to de-escalate the confrontation while Lenu looks on, scared.
Lenu shoves him with a start, but he pushes her to the ground, too.
This blatant display of violence is what it takes for Lenu.
She wants everything Lila has on the Solaras.
And she will write about it.
Together, they write an article detailing the Solaras wrongdoings.
As they arrive at this standstill in their battle of wills, Imma and Tina fight in the background.
Lila deals one final blow.
Just as Pietro and Doriana are about to leave with the girls, they hear screaming and fighting upstairs.
Gennaro, his eyes still red and bleary, has come home with track marks on his arms.
When they leave, Lenu takes Tina.
This motif has sporadically emerged since Immacolatas death, perhapstoosporadically something about it feels tacked on to me …
In the book, Lenu is paralyzed with fear and shock and later feels ashamed of her complacency.
Ferrante writes: My fury first became rage, then contempt for myself.
I couldnt forgive myself for remaining paralyzed in the face of violence.
