PrimeWire

This was one of the all time favourite films of The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia (who played a big part in the film’s restoration) and of surrealist artist/film maker Luis Bunuel and writer Neil Gaiman and into that illustrious company, it’s also one of mine.

There really is no film quite like it and perhaps like an Escher painting, it’s more accurate to say it’s a film within a film within a….
Anyway, there has been much written about the film which is based on an 1805 book titled ‘The Manuscript Found in Saragossa’ by the Polish author Count Jan Potocki (1761–1815). It’s set during the Napoleonic War and relates to earlier events that took place during the reign of King Philip.
Though that’s an accurate overview, it’s a little like saying 2001 A Space Odyssey is about a trip in outer space or A Clockwork Orange tells the story of a teenage gang of robbers - the film is about so much more and
despite owning the DVD and watching it multiple times and devouring every review about the film, it still feels like a fresh magical experience with each sitting.
Of course it’s not a film for everyone and I appreciate a black and white Polish film set in the late 1700s doesn’t sound that enticing on paper but for those who enjoy non-linear storytelling this is something special (and the ‘fan’ names I mention earlier should signal this.)

The most clear and detailed analysis of the film can be found if you do a search for “The Saragossa Manuscript, A Film by Wojciech Has
Outline by Martin Schell”. He divides his analysis into three sections - preliminary notes, outline and explanatory notes) and I’ll leave the final words to him:

“Your first viewing of this amazing film may make you feel confused, dazed, or even drowsy. It may take a second viewing for you to follow the plot enough to realize how its innermost levels interact. The story is not only very subtle, but also very humorous.”