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The Lost Daughter: Everything you need to know about Elena Ferrante's adaptation

From Harper's BAZAAR

Elena Ferrante is rightly considered one of the greatest living writers, her popular four-part Neapolitan novels becoming best-sellers around the world. Lesser known, but still well worth reading is her 2008 book, The Lost Daughter, which is soon to be made into a Hollywood film.

With the cast now announced, the project is slowly taking shape. This is what we know so far:

Who's directing?

The film marks Maggie Gyllenhaal's debut as a director. The indie actress personally write to Ferrante to ask her if she could adapt the book for the big screen, and was thrilled when she said yes. There was one condition - she had to direct it. “When I finished reading Elena Ferrante’s The Lost Daughter, I felt that something secret and true had been said out loud," said Gyllenhaal. "And I was both disturbed and comforted by that. I immediately thought how much more intense the experience would be in a movie theatre, with other people around. And I set to work on this adaptation. I find that the script has attracted other people interested in exploring these secret truths about motherhood, sexuality, femininity, desire. And I’m thrilled to continue my collaboration with such brave and exciting actors and filmmakers.”

Will Elena Ferrante be involved?

Well, no actually. Ferrante, in a column for the Guardian, said that although it wouldn't be easy for her on a primitive level, she wanted Gyllenhaal to have the space to make the story her own. "I don’t want to say: you have to stay inside the cage that I constructed," she said. "We’ve been inside the male cage for too long – and now that that cage is collapsing, a woman artist has to be absolutely autonomous. Her search shouldn’t encounter obstacles, especially when it’s inspired by the work, by the thought, of other women."

What's the story?

The Lost Daughter is an exploration of motherhood and the ambivalence some women experience at child-rearing. It's a psychologically complex story that focuses on a middle-aged divorcee called Leda, who decides to spend a summer on her own in an Italian seaside town after her children leave her to live with their father in Canada. During her holiday, she comes across a loud young family, and becomes consumed by the mother, Nina, and the relationship she has with her own daughter. After the child's doll goes missing, Leda is "overwhelmed by memories of the difficult and unconventional choices she made as a mother and their consequences for herself and her family".

Photo credit: Steve Granitz - Getty Images
Photo credit: Steve Granitz - Getty Images

Who's in it so far?

Olivia Colman has been cast as Leda, and Dakota Johnson as Nina. Jessie Buckley and Peter Sarsgaard have also been enlisted in the film, although details of their specific roles haven't been disclosed, according to Deadline.

When will it be out?

Filming hasn't even begun yet, so we can anticipate a long wait.

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