Eight years ago, in February 2017, Arturo Martinelli, who had been my student, wrote to me via Facebook. He told me that he had just read your two dead and that he was interested in making a film of the novel. As far as he has told me, he read the novel in Barcelona, while he was doing a postgraduate degree in cinema. The funny thing is that he was talking about it with his girlfriend, who was still living in Mexico. Obviously, I agreed, even though I had not thought about the possibility of one of my novels being adapted to film.
Arturo had the idea and nothing more. He teamed up with Víctor Léycegui to put together what filmmakers call “the folder.” Later, Daniel Castro Zimbrón joined the project, who made the adaptation and would direct the film. It took years of hard work until they finally got the support of Eficine. The bad thing was that this happened at the limits of the pandemic. However, they soon began filming. I went to a few days of recording. I confess that what conflicted me the most in general terms (because I had decided not to intervene in the script) was meeting the actor who would play the former commander Zuzunaga, protagonist of the novel that, for the moment, is a trilogy (I hope to soon publish the conclusion of the saga). My nervousness was due to the fact that, due to the characteristics of the narrator of the novel, there was not a single description of the character.
During those days I was polling with close readers. I discovered that they imagined Zuzunaga very different from my idea of him and very different from Gerardo Trejoluna, who would end up playing the former commander. No way, that’s what happens when you agree to have your work adapted, I told myself when I met him: he is an affable and friendly guy, very different from the idea of my protagonist, dark and morally ambiguous.
Time continued to pass because making films is not easy. Post-production took forever. I confess that there was a moment when I preferred not to ask more. A few weeks ago Arturo wrote to me again: your two dead It would premiere within the framework of the Mórbido Festival. Nervousness, again, took over me. Except for what I had seen on the set and a collage of less than a minute, I had not seen the film.
Last Sunday I saw it at the world premiere (that’s how they announced it). There will be an opportunity to give my developed opinion (something that would take me longer than this space allows). I must say, however, that the film works, that the workmanship is remarkable and, above all, that Gerardo Trejoluna gave an impressive performance. Let’s see now how I get it out of my head when I write the continuation of the saga.
In the euphoria of the celebration and festivities, they told me that they are waiting for news about its possible programming in commercial theaters. Let’s hope that the fates are favorable for former commander Zuzunaga to travel through the commercial circuit. Meanwhile, I have nothing left but to thank Arturo for his reading, his enthusiasm and the proposal to make my novel a film. The process was long and the wait was long, but without his stupidity (and that of the rest of the team) this would not have been possible. I have nothing but deep and constant gratitude for him, for them, for everyone involved. Thank you so much.