Wojciech Has (1925-2000)

Wojciech Has (1925-2000) is regarded as one of Poland’s most adventurous yet sensitive film-makers. Known to be a great observer of his surroundings, his films tell stories through mood as much as narrative.

Pre-Production

The starting point of the whole project for Has was being introduced to and then reading Potocki’s novel. However, thereafter his background and education in painting took control of proceedings.

Together with set/costume designer Jerzy Skarzynski a series of illustrations were drawn, setting the tone for the film that went on to feature in the opening credits. The illustrations took on a surrealist feel, probably in reaction to the end of the era of Social realism in Poland, but otherwise contained no direct social or political hints.

From here the script was then written by Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, which was accepted by Has without alteration. Has, however, then went on to develop his shooting script in which he considerably altered many aspects of the original screenplay. This shooting script was compiled with incredible precision and detail including camera movement. It is this shooting script that became The Saragossa Manuscript.

The Saragossa Manuscript is not just a film, but a whole make-believe world in itself as from the original illustrations and the shooting script was created an entire country. The set featured over 100 buildings that took over 7 months to prepare and within these building were extensive props, most of which were designed and created for the film.

Production

Has regarded film as more like human thought rather than an activity as you don’t know where it will take you. He was therefore a believer in allowing his films to grow their own energy, embracing the notion that film is regulated by its own rules and that the movie world does not need to pretend to be real.

While the shooting script was exact, there was enormous room left for the cast to develop their roles. In fact right from the very beginning, there were never screen tests to acclimatise the actors and on set Has rarely provided them with instructions. Instead he observed each shot, choosing whether to accept it or re-shot it, but never giving any criticism, good or bad, to the actors. A firm believer in self motivation, the only advice he gave Beata Tyszkiewicz while viewing the rushes was that she should listen to herself and decide if she is lying or not. While this technique coerced fine performances from the seasoned professionals on the cast (Holoubek) or the talented new-comers (Cembrzynska), it left others all at sea.

Themes

Has’ most common motif is that of the journey and many of his films tell the same story but in different ways. Nearly all involve the desire to go places and escape from enclosed spaces, as characters struggle to settle into the reality of their own lives. It is claimed that Krakow is embedded in his movies and that it is through them that he attempted to come to terms with his surroundings and to keep his head above them (1960s Krakow was extremely poor).

More specifically, the dominant theme in The Saragossa Manuscript seems to be that of duality. On a broad scale, the real or unreal, magical or mathematical, believer or sceptic. Or in closer detail, Muslim or Christian, dead or alive, libertine or pensive. Throughout the film there are frequently pairs, the foreign Princesses, the Hanged brothers, the duellists, and finally even Alphonse himself divides up into two people in the most talked-about mirror scene at the end of the film.

Has’ Later Career

In 1974 Wojciech Has became a lecturer in Directing at the Lodz film school in Poland, before becoming the dean of the directing department in 1989. In 1990 he became the school’s provost, a position he retained for 6 years.

In the later part of his career, it became more and more obvious that the unique circumstances that led to the production of films such as The Saragossa Manuscript were now a thing of the past and Has became aware that modern ways of film-making meant he would never be able to make another movie.

With money now firmly in the driving seat, he continued to work with film by moving into teaching and educating others. Has has said of himself.

“My cinema, my film narratives are visual in nature… Their point of departure is always literature. Operating on time. Abbreviations of time. Jumps in time. Sidetracks and various layers. Space is the domain of painting; time is the domain of literature and film. Playing with time activates the imagination of film viewers (…) the fundamental topic of cinema to me is that of the journey.” (Culture.pl)

Memorial to Wojciech Has in Wraclaw, Poland.

Timjim 2008