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The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)
Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie (original title)
Director: Wojciech Has (as Wojciech J. Has)
Writers: Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, Jan Potocki (novel)
Cast: Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta Czyzewska
Genre: Comedy Drama
Language: Polish
I'd guess that in it's time and location, which was communist Poland 1965 that this film worked well. I've noticed that films from that region of the world often are big on folk lore. Which makes sense as those countries have a long history of peasant folk stories being used as narrative in song, dance, plays and with the advent of film...in movies.
What I thought was interesting was how similar the comedy elements were to films being made in Hollywood during the mid 60s. Whenever I think of American mid 60s comedies I think of the whimsical, wink at the audience, carefree type of humor. Which unfortunately I can't stand. The Saragossa Manuscript reminded me of a well known British comedy Tom Jones (1963), a film I also can't stand. Luckily here the comedy elements weren't that obvious....
But the film was sure long! I guess if you've stood in line all day to get a sack of potatoes, then going to the local communist theater to see a 3 hour movie would be a joy. I might have liked this a bit more at 90 minutes, as the story within a story idea grew tiring after awhile, but at first seemed neat.
I did like the lead actor, he was really good at getting emotions across with his face...I swear I've seen him before, but nay I doubt it. My favorite parts were his interaction with the two Muslim sisters. Were they identical twins in real life? At times they looked like it. The server girl with one exposed breast was funny in a odd way. But it wasn't sexy at all, just odd to see a wardrobe look like that.
I liked the desert rocks and the strangeness of it, but I think the film showed that too many times and it lost some of it's effectiveness. Same with all the skulls and the skull chalice...after awhile they looked more like props, but I bet the communist workers were impressed back in the day.
Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie (original title)
Director: Wojciech Has (as Wojciech J. Has)
Writers: Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, Jan Potocki (novel)
Cast: Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta Czyzewska
Genre: Comedy Drama
Language: Polish
"Upon finding a book that relates his grandfather's story, an officer ventures through Spain meeting a wide array of characters, most of whom have a story of their own to tell."
I'd guess that in it's time and location, which was communist Poland 1965 that this film worked well. I've noticed that films from that region of the world often are big on folk lore. Which makes sense as those countries have a long history of peasant folk stories being used as narrative in song, dance, plays and with the advent of film...in movies.
What I thought was interesting was how similar the comedy elements were to films being made in Hollywood during the mid 60s. Whenever I think of American mid 60s comedies I think of the whimsical, wink at the audience, carefree type of humor. Which unfortunately I can't stand. The Saragossa Manuscript reminded me of a well known British comedy Tom Jones (1963), a film I also can't stand. Luckily here the comedy elements weren't that obvious....
But the film was sure long! I guess if you've stood in line all day to get a sack of potatoes, then going to the local communist theater to see a 3 hour movie would be a joy. I might have liked this a bit more at 90 minutes, as the story within a story idea grew tiring after awhile, but at first seemed neat.
I did like the lead actor, he was really good at getting emotions across with his face...I swear I've seen him before, but nay I doubt it. My favorite parts were his interaction with the two Muslim sisters. Were they identical twins in real life? At times they looked like it. The server girl with one exposed breast was funny in a odd way. But it wasn't sexy at all, just odd to see a wardrobe look like that.
I liked the desert rocks and the strangeness of it, but I think the film showed that too many times and it lost some of it's effectiveness. Same with all the skulls and the skull chalice...after awhile they looked more like props, but I bet the communist workers were impressed back in the day.