|
|
|
|
 |
The Series:
Originally released by Image years ago, Mr Bongo Films has
reissued the surrealist masterpiece The Saragossa
Manuscript (1965). As the cover
states, this film is a favorite
of such varied luminaries as Francis Ford Coppala, Jerry Garcia, Martin
Scorsese (who all contributed financially to the restoration of the
film) and
Luis Bunuel. After screening the film,
it's easy to see why. Directed by Wojciech
Has, the film is filled with luscious black and white cinematography
and has a
convoluted (sometimes confusing) but whimsical plot that is a joy to
watch, even the restored length of three
hours.
While fighting in Saragossa
during the Napoleonic Wars, a French officer discovers an old book with
mesmerizing wood cut pictures. He's so
entranced by the book that he doesn't notice a group of Spanish
soldiers and
their Captain surround him. When ordered
to give up, he tells the men that he won't until he finishes looking at
the
pictures. At this the perplexed Spanish
officer examines the book and discovers it was written by, and about,
his
grandfather. The Spaniard translates as
the Frenchman listens.
Years earlier, Captain Alfons van Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski)
was charged with finding the most direct path to Madrid.
He decides to try a route through the mountains but the two
enlisted men
with him beg him not to go in that direction.
The hills are rumored to be inhabited by devils and demons and
no one
who travels in them is safe.
Dismissing their concerns the Captain moves out, but soon get
separated from his men. He stumbles upon
a strange cave, where a beautiful woman, one breast bared, says that
the
princesses she works for have invited him to dinner.
Surprised to find anyone in the cave, much
less princesses, he agrees and is led to another dingy chamber filled
with a
magnificent spread and gorgeous furniture.
Two exquisite women present themselves and soon offer themselves
up to
be his brides, but only if he converts to Islam. Just
as they are about to seduce him, Alfons
wakes up, lying beneath the corpses of two hanged men in a makeshift
gallows.
From here Alfons journey meanders like a mountain
stream. He meets an old hermit priest,
to whom he tells his story too, recounting the adventures of his father
and how
the elder Worden was famous for his sword duels. Flashing
forward and back, with the same
characters popping up in other people's stories the narrative soon gets
muddled
and twisted.
Based on an early 19th century book, this twisting
film reminded me of the Arabian Nights, with its
story-within-a-story-within-a-story narrative device and the colorful
characters that populate the fiction.
The movie is quite amusing at times, very erotic, exciting, but
most of
all mysterious. A surrealist film in a
lot of ways, events are often just slightly skewed from reality. It starts at the very beginning when a (small
scale) battle is raging in a small town.
A French soldier runs to a demolished wall and falls. Minutes later an officer walks to the man,
seemingly oblivious that bullets are flying, helps him up, and the
presumed
dead soldier runs away, good as new.
That scene, like many in the film, bring the viewers to as
themselves what is real and what is just fiction. Is
the book the two soldiers reading really
true, or is it entirely made up? That
question is at the heart of this film and one of the things that makes
it such
a masterpiece. All through the movie
seemingly
incompatible opposites are presented as being the same.
The man is dead, but he's also alive. The
princesses live in a dingy cave that is
magnificently furnished. The Christian
hermit is a Muslim Sultan. And so
on. Once you see that, it's hard not to
notice that pairs of things are also emphasized in the movie: two officers are reading the book, there are
two princesses, two hanged men, and on and on.
This is one of those films whose ultimate meaning always
seems to be just a hair's width away from your grasp.
It makes so much sense at times, but then the
next scene throws things askew once again.
It's magnificent the way Has keeps the viewers guessing and
questioning
through the whole running time but never makes things so surreal or
disjointed
that interest is lost.
In addition to a perplexing story, this film contains some
lovely cinematography. The DP frames the
images like still photos, and the shots are often held long enough for
people
to appreciate them as art. Even if
the
non-linear story doesn't hold your interest, the beautiful scenes will.
The DVD:
Audio:
The haunting score by Krzysztof Penderecki is magnificent
and adds a lot to the feel and atmosphere of the film.
From the opening where Beethoven's "Ode to
Joy" is playing while a battle is being fought in a war viewers know
that they
are in for a special aural experience.
The music continues the themes of the film in a way few other
soundtracks are able to. The two channel
audio is generally clear and while it is hampered by recording
technology of
the time, it still does a good job.
Video:
This movie is presented with the odd aspect ratio of
approximately 2:1. Not only that, but it
seems to be flagged oddly on the disc. I
ended up putting the disc is several players (which were properly set
up and
matched to their displays) and the resulting image was not consistent. Some times the framing looked wrong and in
other players it looked fine. In any
case though the disc is labeled as anamorphic there were always black
bars at
the top and bottom of the screen.
The image quality itself was pretty good. The
black and white images were clear and had
an adequate level of detail. The
contrast was good and I didn't see any evidence of cross colorization
and only
the slightest aliasing.
Extras:
While the case says that there is an isolated music score, I
couldn't find it anywhere on the disc.
The only extra was an image gallery.
The Image release reportedly included a insert essay on the
film, which
is not present in this release.
Final Thoughts:
This is an all around wonderful film, especially if you like
challenging narratives and non-linear stories.
The cinematography, music, and tale all come together to create
a nearly
lost masterpiece. Highly recommended.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Special Offers
|
|
|
| DVD Blowouts
|
|
|
| Special Offers
|
|
|
|
Buy: