Rating: 
Summary: an unexpected gem
Review: The best reason to hunt around Amazon's mechanism of suggestions and consumer referrals is the hope of chancing upon some little treasure that eluded critical mass on initial release. Saragossa Manuscript is a wonderful movie of unique personality; the closest comparison that comes to mind would be if Fritz Lang had ever made a version of Dangerous Liaisons. It sports an impressive list of supporters and admirers. Not as mystically mindblowing as its advertisement suggests, it is certainly nonlinear and somewhat surrealistic in a gently poetic manner, which is a hell of an accomplishment.
Rating: 
Summary: Legends
Review: The history of cinema is littered with the mangled remains of potentially great films shredded by censors or greedy distributors. Many of these films acquire legendary statuses the easier to sustain because of the impossibility of verification. The lucky few who have seen a film in its entirety become acolytes in an admiring cult, spreading a gospel of unrealized greatness. "The Saragossa Manuscript" is one such work. I remember first reading about it in the early 1970s, and I would occasionally see references to it as one of the great, unseen masterpieces of world cinema. Thanks to the interest of Jerry Garcia, Martin Scorsese and Francis Coppola, we now have a rare opportunity to subject one of these lost treasures to critical scrutiny.It is certainly an unusual, at times striking work. A series of stories within stories, it is easy to see how "Saragossa" has acquired legendary status, since audiences tend to be too impressed with such baroque, Chinese box construction. It is also easy to see how the shortened versions released in the US and Great Britain would have been almost incomprehensible. It is worth remembering, however, that just because something has been butchered doesn't mean that it started out perfect. At the risk of heresy, I have to say that "Saragossa" is simply too long. A tinny literary conceit spun out to epic length and proportions, the film works from too minor an idea to justify its pretensions or reputation. Isolated stretches of brilliance alternate with repetitive, dull sequences with little redeeming value beyond the complex structure. Visually, the film is remarkably bland, given its fantastic premises. The acting is uneven, ranging from refined, elegant theatrical gestures to broad slapstick. Even the structure, while imaginatively sustained, irritates after a while as it becomes clear that stories are deliberately being interrupted just to extend the conceit. "The Sarragossa Manuscript" is, in short, a well above average film with clever ideas, but insufficient cinematic skill to express them thoroughly. The butchers who mangled the film may have done it the greatest service imaginable. They helped to create a myth of lost greatness that is not borne out by the film itself.
Rating:
Summary: The story within the story within the story within...
Review: This is a wonderful film. I had the chance to see it in obscure screenings and was blown away today when I discovered the DVD at our great neighborhood video store. It's the story of a Spanish nobleman that has to get home fast. Against his better judgement he chooses the fastest route, crossing a mysterious land where strange things happen. Everything seems normal during the day, but at night the world is transformed and improbable characters materialize around him to entice him and tell him stories. The defining characteristic of the film is the story within the story. Characters within a story rather quickly launch into yet another story until you realize you are many levels away from your starting point. A unique narrative experience. The movie manages to keep each single story interesting and leaves room for many surprises as stories interrelate in unexpected ways. For the viewer there is a mounting conflict: wanting to get closure on previous stories while thoroughly enjoying the current one. Will the stories unravel back to the beginning? Either way this film does not disappoint.
| 
