The Saragossa Manuscript

"When a decent man is telling you a fascinating story, you should not interrupt him," says one of the manifold characters in Wojciech Has's 1965 cult classic The Saragossa Manuscript, which is filled with nothing but interruptions, as narrative threads branch off even beyond six degrees of separation in this mother of all shaggy dog tales. Dedicated to Jerry Garcia (who was a huge fan, along with Luis Buñuel), and presented by no less than Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, this restored three hour epic, based on the early 19th century novel by Jan Potocki, is set in Spain at the tail end of the Napoleonic Wars. The narrative "blob" of a story kicks off with Belgian Captain Alphonse von Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski) stumbling upon the titular manuscript, and poring over its contents with his would-be captors, one of whom suggests that the book is about his grandfather. In short order, the film is off on a series of truncated, episodic flashbacks, dream sequences, and labyrinthine threads that blur the line between reality and fantasy as our hero tells, and is told, many, many yarns as he makes his way towards Madrid, encountering ghosts, harem girls, rotting corpses, adulterous letches, and--shades of Monty Python--the Spanish Inquisition. Shot in gorgeous b&w CinemaScope, and featuring an eerie score by Krzysztof Penderecki (also available on an isolated track on the DVD), The Saragossa Manuscript is a picture perfect illustration of the Grateful Dead's "long, strange trip," but it's questionable how many viewers--sans recreational drugs--will be willing to stay the course. In other words, while this may be a shoo-in for cinema studies programs, and larger cult film collections, it's probably optional for general collections. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—July 21, 2009—Facets, 182 min., in Polish w/English subtitles, not rated, $29.99—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1965's The Saragossa Manuscript features a good transfer. DVD extras include a stills gallery. Bottom line: a cult fave is back in print.]