The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)

Original title

Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie

Directed by

Wojciech Jerzy Has

Genre

drama film

Country

Poland

Runtime

3h 02m

Rating

7.8 of 10 from 160 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

During the Napoleonic Wars two officers find a manuscript that tells the story of a Spanish officer. That officer traveled through Spain long ago and encountered strange spirits, a Qabalist, a sultan, and a Romani person who each tell him interlocking stories.

intricatemysteriousdreamlikegothicslow-burncerebraldenseatmospheric

What happens

The Saragossa Manuscript (Polish: Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, "The Manuscript found in Zaragoza") is a 1965 Polish film directed by Wojciech Has, based on the 1815 novel The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki. Set primarily in Spain, it tells a frame story containing gothic, picaresque and erotic elements. In a deserted house during the Napoleonic Wars, two officers from opposing sides find a manuscript, which tells the tale of the Spanish officer's grandfather, Alphonso van Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski). Van Worden travelled in the region many years before, being plagued by evil spirits, and meeting such figures as a Qabalist, a sultan and a Romani person, who tell him further stories, many of which intertwine and interrelate with one another. The film was a relative success in Poland and other parts of socialist eastern Europe upon its release. It later also achieved a level of critical success in the United States, when filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola rediscovered it and encouraged its propagation. In the 2015 poll conducted by Polish Museum of Cinematography in Łódź, The Saragossa Manuscript came second on the list of the greatest Polish films of all time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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