After (finally) finishing Wojcjech Has’ The Saragossa Manuscript (1965) I was torn on how to approach writing about the film. I’ll begin by saying that it is one of the most difficult pictures to engage that I have encountered while tackling the list. But where other films that I could apply this label of “difficult” to were boring (Stalker; 1979) or horrendously dated (Birth of a Nation; 1915) The Saragossa Manuscript was simply hard to follow. In many ways it is a precursor to the “hypertext” films, containing numerous interlocking stories, which were released ad nauseam at the turn of the last decade. While many of those films retained their charm by weaving together multiple narratives, the technique employed here by Has of endless frame stories relayed between characters gets trying by the end of the first act. Still, despite this formatting blunder I can’t quite bring myself to pan this polish epic.
In almost every way Saragossa is a farce, and an effective one at that in spite of the aforementioned gaffe. Disguised as a costume drama set in to the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and the Spanish Inquisition, the film manages to be about little more that the sexual cavorting and escapades of every character the primary protagonist encounters. At each stop he makes on his journey he is regaled with more and more anecdotes of forbidden and shameful affairs, and yet each story retains enough of the elements portrayed in the last that by the end the text is rich with thematic (and humorous) color. As each story doubles back on its frame story to reveal truths about its characters the farcical nature of the entire plot unfolds.
This is what makes the film so difficult to engage. As each character subsequently becomes the protagonist of his or her own story filmic convention of tradition story arch is all but forgotten. Indeed, by the time we return to the characters on the outer frame stories their own conflicts have been mentally shelved. As a result, I found myself having to start the film several times and rewinding often to remind myself of previous events. It wasn’t until I gave up on story and focused on theme that I began to enjoy the movie. Though the characters change rapidly, essentially the same stories are being told over and over again, each time with a twist. The film’s conclusion is supposed to reveal the penultimate twist, but by this point I had given in to theme and wasn’t concerned so much with the plight of any single character.
Ultimately, I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy the film. After all, it’s basically a madcap romp from one male fantasy to the next. I believe however that it is a picture that takes time to digest, and may require multiple viewings to truly appreciate.
Grade: 2 Hats Off
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