Stories loop back into stories roads serve as a cinematic moebius strip for characters searching fruitlessly for the fastest route from one location to another. Instead, we are presented with a succession of macabre and humorous shaggy dog tales in which our hero is propositioned by a pair of Muslim virgins, arrested by the Inquisition, and informed of the strange truth about both a one-eyed simpleton and the son of Cadiz’s wealthiest trader. Though the film can’t quite match the meandering pace and misdirection of Laurence Sterne’s infamous novel ‘Tristram Shandy’ (itself made into a superb film in 2005), The Saragossa Manuscript will prove a challenge for anyone who prefers a linear plot, for here there is none. This is the titular tome, the departure point for what will become an increasingly digressive three-hour ‘narrative’ in which stories spin off from stories spun off from other stories. During a brief battlefield lull, Walloon Guards captain Alfonse Van Worden (Zbigniew Cybulski) takes refuge in an abandoned building, where he stumbles across a strange book illustrated with pictures of hanging men, lobsters, and spooning maidens. Presumably Jerry will not be in attendance.īased on an 1815 novel by Jan Potocki, The Saragossa Manuscript takes place in Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. on Saturday, June 14 as part of the series ‘Martin Scorsese Presents Masterpieces of Polish Cinema’, it’s time for a reassessment. However, with the film screening at the Archive at 7:00 p.m. Is any of this true? I’m far from sure, but I’ve always held Garcia’s perhaps apocryphal passion for the film against it, as there are few things in life I enjoy less than listening to The Grateful Dead. Rumor also has it that Garcia loved the film so much that he purchased a print and donated it to Pacific Film Archive, stipulating only that he could screen it there any time he liked. Word on the street for many years has been that Wojciech Has’s 1965 feature Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie ( The Saragossa Manuscript) was musician Jerry Garcia’s favorite film. Yes, I want to support your work! The Saragossa Manuscript: possibly Jerry Garcia’s favorite movie, is screening at BAM/PFA on Saturday June 14 The Saragossa Manuscript: possibly Jerry Garcia’s favorite movie, is screening at BAM/PFA on Saturday June 14
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