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Wojciech Jerzy Has

Acclaimed for his surreal vision, explore a selection of works from the great Polish filmmaker.

For many decades, Has (1925-2000) seemed perilously close to being recognised as a one-film director, so disproportionately famous was The Saragossa Manuscript. However, as dazzling as that masterpiece undoubtedly is, he also produced an impressive body of work comprising 14 features and 12 shorts. And Has’ ostentatiously extravagant, quasi-Surrealist, distinctly Wellesian sensibility emerged fully formed with his 1957 feature debut The Noose.

Whether in black and white or colour, Academy or widescreen, Has was a great visual stylist and a superb director of actors (especially Zbigniew Cybulski, Gustaw Holoubek and Barbara Krafftówna – all Polish A-list talent). This collection reveals Has’ strong affinity with themes of nostalgia and the inexorable pull of history, peppered with the filmmaker’s distinctive use of sarcasm.

Michael Brooke, season curator

The Hourglass SanatoriumThe Hourglass Sanatorium

Fantasy1973119 minsDirector: Wojciech Jerzy Has

The first screen adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s novella is an opulently strange trip through a Polish-Jewish looking-glass.

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The DollThe Doll

Drama1968153 minsDirector: Wojciech Jerzy Has

Widescreen adaptation of Bolesław Prus’s 1870s-set novel about a man who cannot escape his class straitjacket.

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The Saragossa ManuscriptThe Saragossa Manuscript

Fantasy1965183 minsDirector: Wojciech Jerzy Has

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.