Pedro Páramo, One of Mexico’s Greatest Novels, Receives Netflix Adaptation
The film adaptation of one of Mexico’s most influential novels, Pedro Páramo, has finally arrived on Netflix, bringing Juan Rulfo’s masterpiece to life.
Rulfo’s iconic 1955 novella has long been celebrated as one of the greatest works in Latin American literature. It inspired a generation of writers, shaping the course of magical realism, and still remains one of the foundational texts for contemporary Mexican writing. Its impression reached authors like Gabriel García Márquez and influenced the Latin American Boom, a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s that transformed the world of literature.
since the netflix film is releasing tomorrow and idk what to expect, let me remind you that pedro páramo is one of the most influential novels in the magic realism genre and one of the most praised works of latin american literature 🙂 pic.twitter.com/g9hgph89w6
— mar(@satorustormborn) November 5, 2024
The magical realist novel is set in western Mexico between the years of 1870 and 1920, moving through decades of monumental historical events, including the Revolution and dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. It begins with the narration of Juan Preciado, a young man who arrives in the mysterious town of Comala to fulfill his mother’s dying wish: to find his father, Pedro Páramo. The town is a ghostly ruin, and unable to bear the immense weight and generational guilt of his father’s oppression, the young man meets his death. The novel then turns into a conversation between different narrators, Comala’s ghosts, as they reveal the rise and fall of Preciado’s father.
The adaptation, directed by Rodrigo Prieto, brings this incredible tangle of mystery and forgotten voices to the screen. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Tenoch Huerta star in the film as father and son, alongside incredible performances from Dolores Heredia, Yoshira Escarrega, Ishbel Bautista, and Mayra Batalla. Although this is the cinematographer’s directorial debut, he has had a remarkable career working on critically acclaimed films, including Amores Perros, Barbie, Original Sin, Brokeback Mountain, and Biutiful.
In an interview with the Team Deakins podcast, Prieto revealed that he has always enjoyed the novel. The idea for his directorial project arrived while he was working on Killers of the Flower Moon after receiving a phone call from a friend notifying him that Netflix had bought the rights for Páramo and was looking for a director. The Spanish film writer Mateo Gil had already written the script over 15 years ago and prepared to direct his adaptation himself. However, since the novel is so “quintessentially Mexican,” Prieto states, Gil decided to present the opportunity to a Mexican director and bring this historical writing to life.
The newfound director mentions the challenges in recreating the whimsical entanglement of stories and accurately depicting the magical “surrealism” and the authenticity of Mexican history and culture. He expresses the importance of casting and dialogue, “finding Manuel Garcia-Rulfo was great,” as the actor and relative of author Juan Rulfo is from Jalisco, the state that inspired Rulfo’s dialogue, and carries similar qualities to his character.
Additionally, with drastic jumps in time, narrator, and place, the film had to be creatively engineered to deliver a coherent cinematic experience that flows with its mysterious objective. Its incredible visuals lure viewers into its dreamlike world where boundaries between reality and memory become a blur.
Lo mejor de Pedro Páramo, la película en Netflix, es que el director, Rodrigo Prieto, logró con hermosas fotografías darnos los sonidos, voces y luces que alguna vez leímos en una de las obras literarias latinoamericanas más complejas como lo es la novela de Juan Rulfo. pic.twitter.com/xpQpZ4b7ow
— Gerson Gómez Rosa (@ggomezrosa) November 7, 2024
For those willing to surrender to its strange cinematic beauty, Pedro Páramo is now available to stream on Netflix.
Writer | Keep up with me! @alondratolentno
