DVD History

Novel

Jan Potocki – Manuscrit Trouvé à Saragosse (1761-1815)

Written in French by a Polish Aristocrat anywhere between 1797 and 1815, Manuscrit Trouvé à Saragosse is a late enlightenment / pre-Romantic novel playfully sending up the prevailing literary clichés of the time.

Translated back into Potocki's native Polish in 1847, parts of the original French version were then lost, requiring translation from the Polish into French when a French language version was (re-)issued in 1989. The first English version was released in 1995.

Polish writer Tadeusz Kwiatkowski adapted his script for Wojciech Has' film from the Polish language version.

Google Book Search - Read Excerpts from Novel

Film

Wojciech Has (Dir.) - Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie 1965

Filmed in Cinema scope, the original version of Wojciech Has' film The Saragossa Manuscript ran at exactly 3 hours (180mins.). However, when released for distribution in the US in 1965, American distributors cut the film by 1/3 believing it too long (125mins.). English subtitles were added by an anonymous translator.

Despite this the shortened version screened in underground and student cinemas still succeeded in gaining a cult following, including well known names such as Jerry Garcia (leader of The Grateful Dead) who first saw the film in San Francisco and remarkably was also familiar with the book.

It was in the early 1990s that Garcia decided to contact Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive to obtain a copy for the archive, offering to put up the required funds on the condition that he could view the film whenever desired. Unfortunately, the day after the film arrived in 1995 Garcia died, and to make matters worse the version delivered was not the original 180m version but an unknown 152m version.

Upon further research it was then found that the original 180min. negative had been destroyed and in fact only a single copy of the original edit was left in existence belonging to the film's director Wojciech Has. This copy was Has' personal copy and was a print, not a negative.

In the meantime, the Pacific Film out of the blue received a phone call from Martin Scorsese who along with Francis Ford Coppola financed the restoration of Has' 180min version. It is this restored version that deputed at the 1997 NY Film festival and from which a digital master of the original full length Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie was finally made.

DVD

The Saragossa Manuscript – Mr Bongo Films (2008)

In 2002 a limited edition release of The Saragossa Manuscript on DVD occurred via distributor Image Entertainment. This DVD was the first DVD release from the newly restored digital master and before Mr Bongo's acquisition of distribution rights the DVD was changing hands for $65 upwards second hand and $100-200 new on Amazon.com.

In the Mr Bongo DVD release 2008, the picture quality and sound have been further cleaned up and sub-titles re-edited for improved accuracy. Mr Bongo also facilitated the production of a new 35mm print for the BFI (British Film Institute) which since has screened at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music).

Interview with Mr Bongo

Q1. How on earth did you find out about Saragossa's Manuscript?
A1. I was living in Brazil came off the plane went to a DVD store in Notting Hill run by a Polish guy he said apart from the unreleased Wajda films the most important Polish film was Saragossa.

Q2. Polish cinematography is plentiful of good and interesting movies, why did you decide to choose this one?
A2. It had a great story, cult movie, great US backers Lynch.

Q3. What in this film do you think is the most attractive for a non – Polish speaker?
A3. The concept of 30 stories within a story, plus the US directors. Someone could argue that anything with a trippy storyline, Eastern European beauties in negligees would sell well…

Q4. We already know that the Manuscript is a favourite of Francis Ford Coppolla and Martin Scorsese. I believe that there were other reasons why they decided to fund the restoration of the film. Could you comment on that?
A4. Yes Jerry Garcia saw the film many years ago at Burbank and would always recount a scene form the movie, as he could no longer find it he and Scorsese tracked it down. Jerry paid for a new print to be shipped to the US (as usual it was the short /wrong print) and he died in the interim. So as a tribute Marty and Fancis decided to honour his name.

Q5. There are three different versions of the film. In the process of restoration did anybody wanted to change anything in the film structure?
A5. No we just wanted to release the full length uncut original. This is why the film failed the first time they cut the original thereby losing the structure of the incredibly complicated story.

Q6. Why do you think the Manuscript never had a DVD release in Poland?
A6. No idea, I don't think it is appreciated as it might be. Also check his much crazier film the Hour Glass Sanatorium the most expensive polish production to date.