4/18/2023 0 Comments The saragossa manuscriptLuckily the end ties a few threads together (not all) and some more visually surreal sequences emerge, making for a satisfying close to the film. At that length and with such complexity I did find my interest waning from time to time though. I liked the way the music style would change between story layers too, from period pieces to minimal abstract cues. The cinematography or production design isn’t particularly showy, but shots are frequently fluid and particularly well composed so it always looks great. The key characters followed in the more substantial storylines tend to be easy to relate to too, particularly Alfonse as he gets as lost as the audience.įrom a technical standpoint, the film is very impressive too. Although it gets very difficult to follow towards the end and it runs to a hefty 3 hours, Has sprinkles in healthy doses of humour, some action and occasional gratuitous nudity to keep you watching. In that sense, the film works remarkably well for the most part. I’m no good at analysing the deeper meaning of films, I prefer to look at how it works as an experience. Has seems to be exploring the idea of subverting storytelling techniques and/or the fact that all of life comes from storytelling and in reality if you really want to tell a ‘full’ story you need to tell more than just one clean narrative as every detail has its own backstory. At one point a character says “when these stories begin, the listener thinks they’ll end, but one story creates another story and another”. The film is clearly aware of this and makes reference to it on several occasions. Instead it drives you insane by constantly driving the story off on total tangents. There isn’t all that much bizarre imagery on display. I’d heard it was unusual and surreal, but it didn’t mess with my brain the same way I expected it to. 6 layers deep)!ĭue to this, the film becomes one hell of a headf*ck. At one point I think it became a story within a story within a story within a story within a story within a story (i.e. Basically, in this second half of the film, characters keep telling new stories and the film adds a new story layer to the pile. It’s from here that the story begins to get really complicated and I’m not even going to try to summarise everything. When he finally does break free and begins his travels, he ends up meeting a cabalist who takes him to his home. He gets put under a sort of spell and finds himself caught in a loop, unable to leave the village. They claim to be his relative and want him to marry them both after first renouncing his faith to join theirs. When he ventures into an inn to find shelter, he comes across a palatial cave which houses two beautiful women. In this, Alfonse Van Worden (the captain’s grandfather, played by Zbigniew Cybulski) is trying to find the quickest way to Madrid from a remote village in the mountains. The film then moves to the story within the book. An enemy captain finds him there and is about to take him prisoner, but the book catches his eye too and, noting a reference to his grandfather, he sits down and the two read it together. He hides out in a house where he discovers an unusual book. 1965’s The Saragossa Manuscript opens with a military man getting abandoned by his troops. Starring: Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta CzyzewskaĪfter giving my standard introduction to a film, I usually launch into a summary of the plot, but you’ll have to bear with me for both these titles because it’s not so simple. I’m glad I waited though, as they’re now releasing the film on Blu-Ray alongside Has’ The Hourglass Sanatorium, which holds similar esteem amongst those aware of the director, and I was lucky enough to be offered screeners of both of them to review. In passing years Mr Bongo have brought it out on DVD, but I never got around to checking it out. After listening to that episode, the title had stuck in the back of my mind as something to try and watch, but at that time it wasn’t available in the UK. Championed by Matt Gamble of Where the Long Tail Ends and the Row Three Cinecast, it was picked for discussion on the Movie Club Podcast back in 2010. Wojciech Has’ The Saragossa Manuscript is a film I’d heard of just through word of mouth from some of the writers and podcasters at Row Three (another site I contribute towards).
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