海角大神

鈥淚 came to Comala because I was told my father lived here鈥� is one of the most famous first lines in Mexican literature. It comes from the 1955 novel 鈥淧edro P谩ramo鈥� by Juan Rulfo, an author who inspired Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez. Now, the influential book has been adapted into a movie of the same name, which begins streaming on Netflix Nov. 6.

The character who voices those words is Juan Preciado, a man who travels to his late mother鈥檚 hometown to carry out a promise to find his father, Pedro P谩ramo, and claim from him the money and land that Juan is owed.

The book itself is relatively short at 150 pages. As the plot weaves between the living and the dead, the real and the unreal, it becomes 鈥渁 novel that defies comprehension, with confusion and fragmentation becoming central to Rulfo鈥檚 unstable fictional world,鈥� wrote Douglas Weatherford, who translated a new English edition of the book last year, in an afterword.

It鈥檚 that sense of confusion that director Rodrigo Prieto felt most challenged 鈥� and inspired 鈥� to preserve in his Netflix adaptation. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 film the novel directly,鈥� he has said, because it isn鈥檛 linear, and it combines the present with the past, where the living are the ones who disturb the dead. 鈥淭he main challenge was to maintain the structural sense of Rulfo鈥檚 work.鈥�

The bulk of the story is set during the Mexican Revolution, but the story is relevant today, says Emilio Sauri, associate professor of literature at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

鈥淧edro P谩ramo鈥檚 story is one about what happens in a world where there鈥檚 a major concentration of wealth in the hands of one individual,鈥� says Dr. Sauri. 鈥淲hat are the consequences of that? In the novel, it鈥檚 destruction, desolation, complete annihilation of a social world.鈥�

Mr. Rulfo, who lived from 1917 to 1986, said in a 1977 television interview that 鈥淧edro P谩ramo鈥� was meant to be read several times before it could be truly understood. 鈥淚 also had problems writing it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a difficult novel, but it was made that way intentionally. You need to read it three times to understand it.鈥�

The Mexican author, whose only other book is a collection of short stories, 鈥淓l Llano en llamas,鈥� (鈥淭he Burning Plain鈥�), is known for his painstaking attention to language, which he used to paint vivid imagery with bare-bones sentences. His work is considered the opening act for the Latin American literature boom in the second half of the 20th century.

Like many Mexicans, Jacobo Leder first read 鈥淧edro P谩ramo鈥� in high school. Today, he鈥檚 a college student studying international affairs in Mexico City. 鈥淚t was truly a huge disappointment for me when I realized he鈥檇 only written two novels,鈥� Mr. Leder says.

He considers Mr. Rulfo, whose work has been translated into more than 30 languages, to be Mexico鈥檚 best author. Mr. Leder remembers a classroom assignment for which he had to map key locations in the book鈥檚 fictional town of Comala, which is both deeply anchored in Mexico and yet universal in its themes of hope, power, and loss.

鈥淚n the book, it鈥檚 really vague where all the physical locations are. ... It鈥檚 almost as if Comala is immense, infinite,鈥� the entire world, Mr. Leder says.

Nobel Prize-winning author Mr. Garc铆a M谩rquez wrote in a foreword to the book that when he first arrived in Mexico City in 1961, in his early 30s and looking for inspiration, he hadn鈥檛 even heard of Mr. Rulfo. 鈥淚 felt I still had many novels in me, but I couldn鈥檛 conceive of a convincing and poetic way of writing them.鈥� A friend lent him a copy of 鈥淧edro P谩ramo,鈥� and 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 sleep until I had read it twice. ... The rest of that year I couldn鈥檛 read a single other author, because they all seemed inferior,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淢y profound exploration of Juan Rulfo鈥檚 work was what finally showed me the way to continue with my writing.鈥� Mr. Garc铆a M谩rquez鈥檚 next work? 鈥淥ne Hundred Years of Solitude.鈥�

There鈥檚 debate over whether Mr. Rulfo鈥檚 work should be categorized as magical realism, which incorporates elements of fantasy into otherwise real-world interactions. Are the dead speaking? Sure. Is there a multiplication of perspectives? Absolutely. But unlike in a lot of the genre鈥檚 classics, in 鈥淧edro P谩ramo鈥� there isn鈥檛 a strong juxtaposition between the real and the supernatural 鈥� it鈥檚 complete immersion.

Which is part of the reason the book can take some concentration.

Take for example a scene in which a woman named Damiana, who worked faithfully for Pedro P谩ramo despite how he oppressed so many people, comes to find Juan. She offers to take him to his father鈥檚 property. They walk together through an emptied-out town that she tells him 鈥渋s full of echoes. It鈥檚 as if they were trapped in the gaps of the walls or beneath the cobblestones. As you walk, you feel someone following in your footsteps. You hear things rustling. Laughter. Old laughter, as if it were tired of laughing.鈥�

She talks about hearing parties late at night, but when she comes down to see what is happening, the streets are deserted.

Juan asks her point-blank, 鈥淎re you alive, Damiana?鈥�

The question goes unanswered.

In the movie adaptation, the uncertainty of this moment is underscored when Juan, who is following Damiana, pauses before rounding a corner after her.聽 As eerie music plays, he encounters only an empty, moonlit, cobblestone road. A dog barks in the distance, and Juan鈥檚 own voice reverberates as he calls out her name. Is his echo one of the sounds she鈥檇 been referring to?

Since Mr. Rulfo is cited as a key inspiration for contemporary Mexican novelists, why doesn鈥檛 he have the name recognition of other big Latin American writers? One reason could be that he wasn鈥檛 as prolific as his contemporaries, who are better known outside the region, says Dr. Sauri.聽

And perhaps because of timing. Regional authors like Colombia鈥檚 Mr. Garc铆a M谩rquez, Argentina鈥檚 Jorge Luis Borges, and Chile鈥檚 Isabel Allende 鈥渨ere finding the pathways to a broader audience outside the Spanish-speaking world. And Rulfo came right before that,鈥� Dr. Sauri says.聽

Mr. Leder, the college student, worries about whether the Netflix film will do the story justice. 鈥淚鈥檒l watch the movie for nothing more than the fact that I think 鈥楶edro P谩ramo鈥� is an incredible story,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ave I considered that I might like the movie more than the book? Definitely not.

鈥淚t鈥檚 unbeatable.鈥�