Wojciech Has's witty, exotic andfascinatingly constructed Saragossa Manuscript is an adaptation of a Polishliterary text written in French by one Count Potocki, an itinerant aristocrat ofthe Age of Enlightenment. In the composition of his text, Potocki was profoundlyinfluenced by the narrative structures discovered in the Decameron and theArabian Nights. In turn, Has's film is itself something of an experiment in thepossibilities of filmic narrative. "Set in Spain, itfollows in unhurried and malicious fashion the adventures of a Guards officer inthe Sierra Morena. He is involved in one odd experience after another, and everycharacter he meets seems to have some new story to tell. This conglomeration ofeccentricities, whimsy, and mock-heroics is controlled with deceptive skill byHas, and from it all emerges a strange, fascinating philosophy of life,compounded of licentiousness and naivety. The script is heavy, but Has's touch isso light, so laconic, and so rich in visual wit that it imbues the film withexactly the right blend of fantasy and decay. Never before has his detachmentfrom his subject proved so appropriate. "The SaragossaManuscript could also be a satire on spectacle films (note the splendid duel,with pigs grunting contemptuously off screen), a Polish Candide, or even anattempt to create a sort of passive Don Quixote. The art direction is baroque inthe extreme, particularly in the Moorish harem and the magician's castle."Peter Cowie, International Film Guide, 1966