Lombardi's Captain Pantoja

Whenever one reads a book and later learns there is a movie adaptation of it, one has certain expectations; since having read the literature, one begins to form ideas on how certain things, characters, settings etc. should be visualized. More often times than not, the reader's expectations are not met in the movie version. Since we are all different, no two people will interpret a novel into film the same way and in most cases, the film is primarily the director's interpretation of the work.

Lombardi interprets Llosa's novel in his own way. It seems as though his hypertext of Llosa's hypotext was taken and put into the "grand" Hollywood plot machine. The result is a fairly enjoyable film which is more than anything, a crowd pleaser. To anyone with prior knowledge of Llosa's novel, the film can't help but to be a little disappointing.

It omits particular characters, such as Father Francisco and Captain Pantoja's mother, Leonor. Both characters were mostly connected to the radical cult subplot that forms in the Amazon; the main reason for this is omission is apparent; as discussed in class, not many people would want to go see a movie with those graphic crucifixtion scenes depicted in the novel, among other things. Lombardi instead, chooses to sensationalize the love affair between Captain Pantoja and the Brazilian, or as she is in the film, Colombian. In the novel, it is unclear whether Pantoja has genuine feelings for the Colombian, but the film heavily idealizes their relationship and after her death, the rest of the film unfolds like an exaggerated melodrama. Lombardi definitely keeps the humor and main story-line from the novel, but makes it more accessible to audiences...which isn't necessarily always a good thing.

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.