Wojciech Jerzy Has

[MichaelB]

I'll flesh this out when I have a moment, but for the time being here's a clone of a post I made to my blog about the surprisingly extensive line-up of Wojciech Has films on DVD - even though you need either Polish or French (though happily not both) for full appreciation of many of them.

The main labels responsible are Malavida Films (France), Mr Bongo Films (UK), Best Film Co and TVP (Poland). Image Entertainment's The Saragossa Manuscript is now out of print, but copies are still floating around eBay, Amazon and elsewhere.

In chronological order, including shorts:

1947 - Brzozowa Street (Ulica Brzozowa, IMDB)

• * Included in TVP's The Noose (Pętla), Region 0 PAL. No subtitles, though my review should fill in a few gaps.

1947 - Harmony (Harmonia, IMDB)

• * Included in TVP's One-Room Tenants (Wspólny pokój), Region 0 PAL. No subtitles, but no spoken content.

1950 - My City (Moje miasto, IMDB)

• * Included in TVP's The Noose (Pętla), Region 0 PAL. No subtitles.

1957 - The Noose (Pętla, IMDB)

• * TVP, Region 0 PAL. Optional English subtitles on main feature. Extras include unsubtitled shorts Brzozowa Street and My Town (see above).

• * Included in the fourth volume of Best Film Co's 50 Years of the Polish Film School (50-lecie Polskiej SzkoÅ‚y Filmowej, Region 0 PAL. Optional English, French, German, Russian and Polish HOH subtitles on main feature, though not brief accompanying featurette. Extensive, fully bilingual booklet in Polish and English.

• * Le Noeud coulant, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1958 - Farewells (Pożegnania, IMDB)

• * Les Adieux, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1959 - One-Room Tenants (Wspólny pokój, IMDB)

• * TVP, Region 0 PAL. Optional English subtitles on main feature. Extras include the dialogue-free short Harmony (see above).

• * Chambre commune, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1960 - Goodbye to the Past (Rozstanie, IMDB)

• * Adieu jeunesse, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1961 - Gold Dreams (Złoto, IMDB)

• * L'or de mes rêves, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1962 - How To Be Loved (Jak być kochaną, IMDB)

• * Included in the fourth volume of Best Film Co's 50 Years of the Polish Film School (50-lecie Polskiej SzkoÅ‚y Filmowej, Region 0 PAL. Optional English, French, German, Russian and Polish HOH subtitles on main feature, though not brief accompanying featurette. Extensive, fully bilingual booklet in Polish and English.

• * L'art d'être aimée, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1965 - The Saragossa Manuscript (Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, IMDB)

• * Mr Bongo Films, Region 0 PAL. English subtitles.

• * Image Entertainment, Region 1 NTSC. English subtitles.

• * Le manuscrit trouvé a Saragosse, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

• * Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, Gazeta Wyborcza, Region 0 PAL, no subtitles - but far superior transfer to the above.

1966 - The Codes (Szyfry, IMDB)

• * Les codes, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1968 - The Doll (Lalka, IMDB)

• * La poupée, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1973 - The Hourglass Sanatorium (Sanatorium pod klepsydrą, IMDB)

• * Mr Bongo Films, Region 0 PAL. English subtitles.

• * La Clepsydre, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1983 - An Uneventful Story (Nieciekawa historia, IMDB)

• * Une Histoire banale, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1985 - Write and Fight (Pismak, IMDB)

• * L'écrivain, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1986 - The Memoirs of a Sinner (Osobisty pamiętnik grzesznika przez niego samego spisany , IMDB)

• * Journal intime d'un pêcheur , Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

1988 - The Tribulations of Balthazar Kober (Niezwykla podróz Baltazara Kobera, IMDB)

• * Les Tribulations de Balthazar Kober, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

As ever, additions and corrections are most appreciated.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Is this a good time to add that the Barbican a running a season of his films?

http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/series. ... ow=listing

I wish they'd show them more than once though.

[MichaelB]

Yes, absolutely - sorry, both my blog entries mentioned the Barbican retro, but I accidentally deleted them when I changed the opening paragraph.

For the really dedicated Has fan, the Era New Horizons festival in Wrocław is apparently mounting a complete retrospective next July to mark the 10th anniversary of his death, almost certainly with English subtitles (just about everything in Wrocław this year was English-friendly).

[der_Artur]

For the really dedicated Has fan, the Era New Horizons festival in Wrocław is apparently mounting a complete retrospective next July to mark the 10th anniversary of his death, almost certainly with English subtitles (just about everything in Wrocław this year was English-friendly).

A great opportunity to visit my home country. Now if I only was a journalist to attend the whole festival for a reasonable price.

[GaryC]

Do you know which ratio the French DVD of The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is in? The Mr Bongo DVD is 1.78:1 anamorphic, though at least one commenter to my DVD Times review thinks the film should be in Scope.

I guess to be certain, I should go and see the film at the Barbican (assuming they're showing a 35mm print), but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

Incidentally, the Cine Lumiere (London) put on a Has retrospective back in 2001 shortly after Has's death. I can't remember how complete it was, but that was where I first saw The Saragossa Manuscript (in a 35mm print of its 150-minute version).

[MichaelB]

Do you know which ratio the French DVD of The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is in? The Mr Bongo DVD is 1.78:1 anamorphic, though at least one commenter to my DVD Times review thinks the film should be in Scope.

Not first hand, but the grabs and info on this page suggest that it's 16:9. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the same master fuelled this and the Mr Bongo DVD.

I guess to be certain, I should go and see the film at the Barbican (assuming they're showing a 35mm print), but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

I understand that the Barbican's Has season is entirely made up of new 35mm prints courtesy of the Filmoteka Narodowa in Warsaw. I'll definitely be at tomorrow's screening, not least because I'm introducing it.

(I'm hardly a Has expert, but I don't imagine the London-based pool was that great - and I have at least written about him three times for Sight & Sound and am contributing a chapter to a forthcoming book to be published concurrently with next year's Wrocław retrospective.)

Incidentally, the Cine Lumiere (London) put on a Has retrospective back in 2001 shortly after Has's death. I can't remember how complete it was, but that was where I first saw The Saragossa Manuscript (in a 35mm print of its 150-minute version).

That doesn't surprise me - Has has always been much bigger in France than anywhere else (even, arguably, his native country). That said, a bit of digging suggests that it only included three titles - The Noose, The Saragossa Manuscript and The Hourglass Sanatorium, all of which are in the Barbican season.

As far as I'm aware, only three Has films ever managed proper commercial releases in Britain - How To Be Loved (also showing at the Barbican), Saragossa (in the 124-minute truncation) and The Doll - though I daresay there were sporadic screenings of others at festivals and retrospectives like the Cine Lumiere event. But it's safe to say that Has is practically terra incognita even for well-informed British film buffs, so this revival of interest in his work is long overdue.

Since virtually his entire feature output is either out on DVD in France already or imminently (mid-October), I trust that those masters will end up with English subtitles at some point - since there are just three Has films out in Poland at present, and I've heard rumours that more are on the way, this isn't a forlorn hope at all.

[lubitsch]

Some of the films you have listed as only being available with french subs are available on http://www.polishmoviesonline.com/advan ... cription=1 . While I can't say anything about the quality of the tapes, the amount of Polish subtitled films there is certainly impressive.

[GaryC]

As far as I'm aware, only three Has films ever managed proper commercial releases in Britain - How To Be Loved (also showing at the Barbican), Saragossa (in the 124-minute truncation) and The Doll -

Thanks for the info.

The Hour-Glass Sanatorium was a film that showed that I have a ceiling for surreal fantasy - while I've quite happily sat through The Saragossa Manuscript three times (twice at full length) I couldn't get to grips with this one. It would be nice to give it a go on the big screen, but unfortunately I won't be able to make it.

According to my Saragossa Manuscript review, you may need to add Farewells (Pozegnania) to that list. But if I remember rightly (I wrote that review in 2002) that's on the strength of a BBFC certification in 1959.

[tartarlamb]

The Hour-Glass Sanatorium was a film that showed that I have a ceiling for surreal fantasy - while I've quite happily sat through The Saragossa Manuscript three times (twice at full length) I couldn't get to grips with this one. It would be nice to give it a go on the big screen, but unfortunately I won't be able to make it.

I don't know if you're familiar with Bruno Schulz, but it certainly helps if you've read the source material. I was similarly bewildered by the film, but watched it again after reading Schulz's small body of work and doing a bit of reading on him, and the film was far more digestible and enjoyable afterward. Its probably a safe bet that a Polish audience would be far better primed.

[Peacock]

Well the Has season will be playing at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh this November, if any of you cannot make the other screenings!!

[GaryC]

The Hour-Glass Sanatorium was a film that showed that I have a ceiling for surreal fantasy - while I've quite happily sat through The Saragossa Manuscript three times (twice at full length) I couldn't get to grips with this one. It would be nice to give it a go on the big screen, but unfortunately I won't be able to make it.

I don't know if you're familiar with Bruno Schulz, but it certainly helps if you've read the source material. I was similarly bewildered by the film, but watched it again after reading Schulz's small body of work and doing a bit of reading on him, and the film was far more digestible and enjoyable afterward. Its probably a safe bet that a Polish audience would be far better primed.

Thanks - that's the impression I got. A Polish friend of mine was certainly aware of the film when I mentioned that I had a review copy of the DVD, and I wouldn't have called her especially a film buff.

I similarly haven't read the novel of The Saragossa Manuscript, but I found that film more accessible - admittedly the booklet notes in the Image edition helped a lot to keep track of the characters and the storylines.

[MichaelB]

Nick Roddick on Wojciech Has, courtesy of an online-only Sight & Sound piece.

[MichaelB]

Do you know which ratio the French DVD of The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is in? The Mr Bongo DVD is 1.78:1 anamorphic, though at least one commenter to my DVD Times review thinks the film should be in Scope.

It is 100% definitely in Scope - I've just seen it in a new 35mm print.

[GaryC]

Do you know which ratio the French DVD of The Hour-Glass Sanatorium is in? The Mr Bongo DVD is 1.78:1 anamorphic, though at least one commenter to my DVD Times review thinks the film should be in Scope.

It is 100% definitely in Scope - I've just seen it in a new 35mm print.

Thanks for that - I'll update my review when I get a moment.

It's odd that I couldn't be sure when I watched the DVD - usually you can tell if something's been panned and scanned and awkwardly cropped at the sides, and I can most of the time spot squeezed-background artefacts caused by anamorphic lenses. If I remember rightly, the film is shot in fairly deep focus, so out-of-focus backgrounds are at a minimum. And it may be that for many films (not all, certainly), cropping to 16:9 is much less damaging than cropping to 4:3, as directors and DPs tend not to use the extreme edges of the frame. (<i>Two-Lane Blacktop</i> is an example of a film which does use the extreme edges, but that film is incomprehensible if not viewed in 2.35:1 or something close to it - I speak from painful experience of the last time it was shown on British TV.)

[MichaelB]

Aaargh! Sorry, Gary, in trying to reply to your last post I inadvertently deleted it - I'm always forgetting that I have moderator powers in the Filmmakers forum. I've been trying to retrieve it with the back button, but no luck yet, I'm afraid.

[GaryC]

1965 - The Saragossa Manuscript (Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie, IMDB)

• * Mr Bongo Films, Region 0 PAL. English subtitles.

• * Image Entertainment, Region 0 NTSC. English subtitles.

• * Le manuscrit trouvé a saragosse, Malavida, Region 0 PAL. French subtitles only.

<snip>

As ever, additions and corrections are most appreciated.

The Image DVD is Region 1, not Region 0. (And just to be ultra-nitpicky, "a saragosse" should be "à Saragosse".)

I saw The Noose at the Barbican this afternoon (never my favourite London venue) - for the record, the running time wasn't the usually-given 96 minutes but 101 minutes according to my stopwatch. (That did include two modern logos at the front.)

[MichaelB]

I've just picked up the first Polish DVD edition of The Saragossa Manuscript, and what it lacks in subtitles (though this is easily remedied - PM me for info), it more than compensates with what's very comfortably the best transfer it's had to date.

By lucky hap, I'd just treated myself to a 27" high-res monitor, so I was able to run both it and the Mr Bongo DVD one above the other, with the following findings:

Gazeta Wyborcza • Mr Bongo
rock-steady • visibly jittery
full 2.35:1 Scope • cropped 2.1:1 (the US edition was a mere 1.92:1)
damn near pristine • lots of minor damage
lots of fine detail • much more contrasty

Great though it is, it might be worth waiting to see if last year's premature announcement of a Blu-ray ever amounts to anything - especially if it comes with English subtitles. But if you're desperate to see the film now, this is by far the best way of doing it, and it's a steal at 34.99 złotys (£7.45/€8.44/$12.05 at today's exchange rates).

[DeprongMori]

Is anyone aware of any updates on the status of Memoirs of a Sinner since 2009? I just found out that Bill Douglas had written a screenplay based on James Hogg’s novel “Confessions of a Justified Sinner”, and I’m curious what Wojciech Jerzy Has‘ approach to adapting the novel was.