Llosa's Captain Pantoja

Llosa's work, Captain Pantoja and the Special Service, definitely has filmic qualities. There is, however, an abundance of literary writing styles, termed as heteroglossia in class, which might make this a difficult work to translate to film; I am curious to see how Lombardi approaches the text. One of the things Lombardi probably struggled with when adapting this novel was the telescopic form of dialogue. It's interesting because, as one is reading, the back and forth pattern between events (like when Pantoja is being informed of his promotion and at the same time, there is dialogue of him speaking with Pocha and his mother earlier that morning) one can get a bit confused. Visually, though, it seems more plausible to have a constant to and fro of scenes between the past and present events. Another issue would be the visualization of the dispatches and letters exchanged between the generals and other officials. Most of how that might be seen on film deals with Lombardi's creative license and how he might want to include or exclude them. The letters are actually extremely important in the novel because they magnify the absurdity of Pantoja's task.

The humor will probably translate easily into film; it mostly lies in the seriousness with which the whole operation is taken. Pantoja dedicates himself fully to the project and tries to go above and beyond to do his best. As specified in his letters, he has tried to make the whole project into a series of technical events, timing situations, looking up information. It is ironic to note that it is Pantoja who is eventually punished for doing exactly what was asked of him.

The setting in the Amazon offers great scenery visually, but is also incredibly symbolic. This seems to be the place where repression is let loose. The need to have to resort to creating the service was to control the urges of the soldiers wild sexual appetite supposedly caused by the exotic heat of the Amazon; before the creation of the service, soldiers were going on rampants raping women in the villages. Father Francisco and his whole cult had their most successful gatherings in the amazon. The idea that the Amazon has certain properties which can altar you or your perceptions is chilling; a clever device used by Llosa to communicate themes of social and political types. Alas, these are some of the many interesting aspects that could make Captain Pantoja's journey into an enjoyable film.