Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema Volume 2. BR 7: Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie (1964)

In December 2011, filmmaker Martin Scorsese travelled to Poland to accept an honorary degree from The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz. During his stay in Poland, he met with Jedrzej Sablinski (a digital restoration expert, now DI Factory CEO), and discussed the digital restoration in Poland achieved within the KinoRP project. In the months following this visit, with the help of The Film Foundation executive director Margaret Bodde and The Digital Film Repository CEO Maciej Molewski (now with all DOTS), the idea of a North American tour of a series of restored Polish classics came together. From an extensive catalogue, Martin Scorsese chose twenty-one masterpieces.
Premiering in New York City at the Film Society of Lincoln Center on February the 5th, 2014, the series featured films from some of Poland's most accomplished and lauded filmmakers, spanning the period from 1957-1987. Each film has been brilliantly restored and digitally remastered to 2K resolution, and brought to the standards of DCP distribution. The program was created by Martin Scorsese's non-profit organisation The Film Foundation, organised in partnership with the National Audiovisual Institute of Poland, and with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, the Polish Film Institute as well as Kadr, Tor and Zebra film studios.



RĘKOPIS ZNALEZIONY W SARAGOSSIE / Rekopis znaleziony w Saragossie / The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)

Director: Wojciech Has
Writers: Tadeusz Kwiatkowski, Jan Potocki (novel)
Stars: Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, Elzbieta Czyzewska

In the Napoleonic wars, an officer finds an old book that relates his grandfather's story, Alfons van Worden, captain in the Walloon guard. A man of honor and courage, he seeks the shortest route through the Sierra Morena. At an inn, the Venta Quemada, he sups with two Islamic princesses. They call him their cousin and seduce him; he wakes beside corpses under a gallows. He meets a hermit priest and a goatherd; each tells his story; he wakes again by the gallows. He's rescued from the Inquisition, meets a cabalist and hears more stories within stories, usually of love. He returns to Venta Quemada, the women await with astonishing news.

Extras:
- Trailers




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