Swiss writer, Dürrenmatt, gets Hollywood treatment

A novel by Switzerland's most famous author, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, is to be adapted into a major Hollywood movie, with Jack Nicholson and Aaron Eckhart in the main roles.

A novel by Switzerland’s most famous author, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, is to be adapted into a major Hollywood movie, with Jack Nicholson and Aaron Eckhart in the main roles.

“Das Versprechen” (The Promise) has been described as an existentialist detective story in which the Swiss detective, Commissioner Matthäi, has to solve a demanding murder case.

The American actor, Sean Penn, will direct the film, which is due to begin shooting in Montreal in April.

The book was last adapted for the big screen in 1958. That version, titled “Es geschah am hellichten Tag” (It Happened in Broad Daylight), starred Heinz Rühmann and Gert Fröbe.

Dürrenmatt was born in Konolfingen near Berne in 1921. He found international fame with “Besuch der alten Dame” (The Visit), a play which was also adapted into a film, starring Ingrid Bergmann and Anthony Quinn.

Dürrenmatt’s work won numerous awards, including the Friedrich Schiller and Georg Büchner prizes, and he was given five honorary doctorates. He spent much of his time in Neuchatel, where he died in 1990.

By Mark Ledsom