same ingredients, different outcome.

The most problematic part of Marcelo Piñeyro’s film adaptation of Piglia’s novel Money to Burn, titled Burnt Money, was his treatment of the relationship between The Twins. Aside from looking alike, the characters of Nene and Angel were actually separated throughout the movie by their emotions, as they each took turns playing the part of the jilted lover. First Nene was upset because Angel no longer wanted a physical relationship (though he never explains his new found religious motives to Nene and Nene never asks). Later, Angel is nearly pushed over the edge at his discovery that Nene has been having an affair with Giselle. The movie therefore focused on the pair as lovers rather than friends.


In the book it was quite the opposite. The Twins were friends first. In fact, more than friends, as they functioned together like one person. Dorda’s illness (hearing voices) is not something that has just recently developed; it is what makes him the physical entity of The Twins, while The Kid takes care of the mental. True, there was a physical relationship, but the book dismissed it as something that happens but hasn’t for a while. Additionally, Dorda’s belief that semen is sacred is long-held and does not inhibit the physical relations between the men. Neither The Kid nor Dorda seem concerned by the fact that they have not slept together in a while—it is not what their relationship is based on. Additionally, The Kid’s short and mainly physical relations with the girl did not affect Dorda. While the movie incorporated these details from the novel, Piñeyro skewed them to reach a different end.