The metafiction of literature to cinema: the metafictional anagnosis of Fog to Open your eyes

This paper studies the relationship between literary and film metafiction in an attempt to transcend the concept of adaptation. Its point of departure is a literary work, Niebla, and, more specifically, the key scene which is identified as metafictional anagnorisis, that is, when a fictional character discovers that he is such, in order to trace its development in a series of films. In the first place, the paper pays attention to the two existing film adaptations of the novel, one of which completely overlooks the metafictional element. Then it undertakes an analysis of a film, Stranger than Fiction, which is not an adaptation but an exemplary transference to film of this metafictional element, although its literary nature remains. In contrast to this example of ( literary) metafiction in film, the paper suggests another one of authentic film metafiction, Fuera del cuerpo. Finally, it discusses what is considered the best film translation of this anagnorisis scene in a movie, Abre los ojos, which represents a different kind of metafiction, what is called metafictional allegory. To conclude, a series of general consequences and insights are drawn from the preceding itinerary and distinctions.