This film is currently unavailable
The Saragossa Manuscript
During the Napoleonic wars, a soldier discovers a strange manuscript that reveals endless stories-within-stories. Wojciech Has' opus is a major cult film of the 60s, revered by Luis Buñuel, David Lynch and Jerry Garcia.
Director: Wojciech Jerzy Has
Overview
During Napoleon’s invasion of Spain, two soldiers discover a strange manuscript at an inn. The book chronicles the adventures of Alfonso van Worden. Alfonso’s passage through the dangerous Sierra Morena mountains is repeatedly interrupted by seemingly random encounters with an assortment of larger than life figures. As the soldiers immerse themselves in the script they become immersed in its endlessly interconnected narrative.
Wojciech Has’ adaptation of Polish novelist Jan Potocki’s magnum opus became a major countercultural favourite during the 1960s, largely due to the patronage of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, who regarded the film's narrative waywardness as a kind of cinematic trip. Luis Buñuel, Neil Gaiman and David Lynch were also admirers, while Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppolla assisted in the film's restoration and re-release. Despite its length and the slippery challenge of its storytelling, The Saragossa Manuscript is largely a lighthearted work, laden with warm comedy, ribald drama, Gothic atmospherics and unforgettable imagery.
Contains frequent nudity and moderate violence
Related
Leonor Will Never Die Leonor Will Never Die
Drama 2022 99 mins Director: Martika Ramirez Escobar
As she lays in a coma, Leonor becomes the hero of her own story in this gleeful celebration of pulpy Filipino action films.
Night Tide Night Tide
Fantasy 1961 85 mins Director: Curtis Harrington
A young Dennis Hopper is on shore leave from the Navy when he falls for a mysterious woman who performs as a mermaid, in this intoxicating cult classic from underground filmmaker Curtis Harrington.
The Machine that Kills Bad People The Machine that Kills Bad People
Comedy 1952 84 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini and Luciano Emmer
Roberto Rossellini's film about a photographer who is given the power to rid the Earth of 'evil-doers'.
La Belle et la Bête La Belle et la Bête
Fantasy 1946 95 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau’s ravishingly restored 1946 film is a cinematic classic. “Five stars. [This] magical exploration of the fairytale is a compelling and bizarre masterpiece” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future
Fantasy 2022 99 mins Director: Francisca Alegría
Francisca Alegría brings together family trauma and ecology into a poetic journey of rebirth. A mysterious and poetic tale on our collapsing ecosystem and finding balance.
The Juniper Tree The Juniper Tree
Fantasy 1991 79 mins Director: Nietzchka Keene
A teenage Björk stars in this Brothers Grimm adaptation, which finds witchcraft thriving in the wilds of medieval Iceland.
Delicatessen Delicatessen
Comedy 1990 100 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Jeunet and Caro's endlessly inventive and wildly enjoyable post-apocalyptic black comedy, about a sinister butcher and the circus clown who becomes his nemesis.
Computer Chess Computer Chess
Comedy 2013 91 mins Director: Andrew Bujalski
Andrew Bujalski’s hilarious and surreal comedy about the birth of computer culture, set in an early 1980s conference where primitive programmers take on chess masters.
Blithe Spirit Blithe Spirit
Comedy 1945 96 mins Director: David Lean
A séance results in a man’s first wife returning from the dead in Noël Coward’s wonderful comedy.
The General The General
Comedy 1926 79 mins Silent Director: Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman
Buster Keaton's masterpiece is widely and rightly regarded as one of the greatest comedies ever made.
Steamboat Bill, Jr. Steamboat Bill, Jr.
Comedy 1928 71 mins Director: Charles F. Riesner
Waterway hi jinks abound in this Buster Keaton classic, in which he plays the reluctant heir to his father's paddle steamer business.
Sherlock Jr. Sherlock Jr.
Comedy 1924 45 mins Director: Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton's superb, sophisticated silent comedy in which he dreams himself into the movie he's watching, in order to win back his girl.
Reawakening Reawakening
Thriller 2024 90 mins Director: Virginia Gilbert
BAFTA-winner Jared Harris stars as a father wrestling with uncertainty when his daughter reappears a decade after vanishing.
A Night of Knowing Nothing A Night of Knowing Nothing
Drama-documentary 2021 99 mins Director: Payal Kapadia
All We Imagine as Light director Payal Kapadia’s bold and distinctive feature debut explores the political climate of contemporary India.
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
Period drama 2023 178 mins Director: Tinto Brass
Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren star in one of the most controversial films in cinema history, presented here in an entirely new cut compiled from the original rushes.
All We Imagine as Light All We Imagine as Light
Romance 2024 118 mins Director: Payal Kapadia
Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix-winning portrait of three women is a transcendent tale of love and sisterhood.
The Universal Theory The Universal Theory
Thriller 2023 118 mins Director: Timm Kröger
The spirits of Lynch, Lang and Hitchcock haunt this cold war mystery-thriller with an awesome Alpine backdrop.
The Love Witch The Love Witch
Comedy 2016 121 mins Director: Anna Biller
A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, in Anna Biller's outrageous tribute to 1960s Technicolor melodramas.