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THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT
"Will undoubtedly send most viewers screaming for the exits,
in search of the nearest Sonny Chiba film."--from
Steve Puchalski's Shock Cinema review of THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT
(REKOPIS ZNALEZIONY W SARAGOSSIE).
That's probably true. A Polish art film made in 1965 and barely
distributed stateside, SARAGOSSA has just recently turned up in its uncut
three-hour version (courtesy of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese).
Possibly the farthest the screen has ever taken the ARABIAN NIGHTS
story-within-a-story motif, this distinctly literary exercise is not a film for
the uncommitted or casual viewer. It's a flawed, yet undeniably
thought-provoking and sumptuous work.
The Package
Special mention must be made of Mieczyslaw Jahoda's
impressive b/w photography. The film is a visual feast from start to finish. The
widescreen compositions are stunning and the atmospheric photography is even
more so. Hard, gritty, and yet appropriately dreamy, Jahoda's work vividly
brings the film's abundance of surreal gothic imagery to life. At its best, it's
a veritable symphony of light and shadow (at its worst, it's just murky).
As befits the film's subject matter, the visuals create
a universe of their own, as demanding, exhausting, yet ultimately rewarding as
the film itself.
The Story
Based on a famous French novel by Count Jan Potocki
(published in 1813, although it took until 1996 for a complete version to appear
in English), THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT opens with a soldier finding an old book
in the midst of an ongoing battle. The book tells of a young captain traveling
through Spain where just about everyone he meets shares a story.
Those stories often contain supernatural elements including
ghosts, Satanic pacts, dire prophecies, pre NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD flesh-gnoshing
zombies, and two Tunisian sister-witches who make several appearances.
The characters within each story also have a passion
for storytelling, as do the characters in each of their stories, until
the recursive individual tales eventually parallel, extend or just fill in the
blanks of one another. It all adds up to what can only be described as an
intellectual crossword puzzle.
A major scene toward the end of THE SARAGOSSA
MANUSCRIPT has a group of characters attempting to sort out the impossibly
convoluted narrative they find themselves trapped inside--it's that
confusing. Further complicating matters is a recurring motif where the hero
awakens under a gallows tree, realizes that the preceding events have all been a
dream, and, sure enough, finds himself waking up under that same gallows tree
again and again...
The Direction
Director Wojciech Has (THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM,
MEMOIRS OF A SINNER), certainly deserves points for ambition. The film has a
truly giant cast of characters, boasting at least a dozen speaking parts. Yet it
still manages to stay afloat, perhaps because of Has's witty, rather playful
tone. In addition, his gift for composition is evident throughout.
Unfortunately, Has remains deficient in an important area--that of
storytelling. Even without the ARABIAN NIGHTS motif, the film is plenty
confusing. The problem may be Has' obvious fidelity and respect for the original
novel. Amusing though THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT is, nearly every scene cries out
that this is a literary adaptation. Thus, in spite of the adventurous and often
horrific goings-on, this film often feels more like a history lesson than a
swashbuckler.
Vital Statistics
THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT (REKOPIS ZNALEZIONY W
SARAGOSSIE)
POLart
Director: Wojciech Has
Producer: The Polish Corporation for Film Production
Screenplay: Jerzy Skarzynski, Tadeusz Myszorek
(Based on a novel by Count Jan Potocki)
Cinematographer: Mieczyslaw Jahoda
Cast: Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Joanna Jedryka, Kazimierz Opalinski