Cinema
The Saragossa Manuscript
Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie
Wojciech Jerzy Has · 1965
Synopsis
In Napoleon's time, the young Alphonse van Worden, who is about to take up service in the Walloon Guard in Spain, chooses, despite warnings, the shortest road, through the Sierra Morena, said to be haunted. At the inn of the Venta Quemada, he spends the night with two Moorish princesses who make him swear to secrecy, and wakes at the foot of the gallows of the Zoto brothers. At a hermit's, the possessed Pacheco tells him his story; then a cabalist and a gypsy chief tell him others, which nest within one another and answer one another.
Context
Tadeusz Kwiatkowski's screenplay follows the version of Jan Potocki's novel known at the time and keeps its structure of nested tales. Jerzy Skarżyński designed the sets, Mieczysław Jahoda the photography and Krzysztof Penderecki the music; Zbigniew Cybulski, older than the character, plays the lead. The director said he wanted to render Potocki's joke with its philosophical undertones. Released on 9 February 1965, the film circulated abroad in shortened versions.
Who it is for
About three hours, in two parts, in black and white; the stories are nested on several levels.
Prizes and reception
Received with reserve in Poland, it became a cult film abroad, admired by Buñuel, Lynch, Scorsese and Coppola, and was restored in 1999.
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