The Saragossa Manuscript
The Saragossa Manuscript is an adaptation of a 19th century novel by Jan Potocki. A difficult adaptation because the original book is constructed of intertwining stories. Each of these stories is set in a different time and place, they are tangled and they create an astonishing network of connections and relations.
Alfons von Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski), the captain of the Spanish royal guard, is travelling through the Sierra Morena mountains. At an inn he meets Moorish princesses, who reveal to him that he has been chosen for great tasks, but first he has to be tested many times. In this way the character becomes involved in a series of incredible events and situations. Neither von Worden, nor the audience know what is true and what is only an illusion. The splendid stage-designs and picturesque images are memorable, and so are the performances by the popular actors appearing in each successive story. The Saragossa Manuscript can be considered to be an adventure film, a comedy or a fantasy full of ghosts, mysterious princesses, hangmen and lunatics. Has's film soon became an icon, with faithful audiences and fans worldwide.
Beata Cyganek
Wojciech Jerzy Has, film director, screenwriter, producer, born in 1925, died in 2000. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. He was an artistic individualist and was often called a cinema visionary. His most significant works were created at the peak of the "Polish School" of the 1950s and 1960s. His debut in 1957 was the film The Noose, inspired by German expressionism and French poetic realism. Precisely planned frames, amazing atmosphere, as if on the borderline between fairy tale and reality, carefully prepared design, characters alienated from their everyday life, exploring the complex human psyche - these are typical features of Has's unique style, developed to perfection in his late works, including The Hour-Glass Sanatorium. How to Be Loved with the famous performance of Zbigniew Cybulski was a film very close to the concepts of the Polish School of the 1950s and 1960s. This feature marked the beginning of the director's success. Nowadays it is recognized as one of the best Polish psychological films.
Filmography:
1947 Harmonia/ Harmony
1957 Pętla/ The Noose
1958 Pożegnania/ Farewells
1959 Wspólny pokój/ One Room Tenants
1960 Rozstanie/ Goodbye to the Past
1962 Jak być kochaną/ How to Be Loved
1964 Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie/ The Saragossa Manuscript
1968 Lalka/ The Doll
1973 Sanatorium pod Klesydrą/ The Hour-Glass Sanatorium
1982 Nieciekawa historia/ An Uneventful Story
1984 Pismak/ Write and Fight
1985 Osobisty pamiętnik grzesznika przez niego samego spisany/ Memoirs of a Sinner
1988 Niezwykła podróż Baltazara Kobera/ The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober