The Saragossa Manuscript (1965)

THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT  (1965)  ¢ ¢
    D: Wojciech Has
    Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzynska, 
    Elzbieta Czyzewska, Gustaw Holoubek, 
    Bogumil Kobiela, Zdzislaw Makiakewicz
During the Napoleonic Wars, a Spanish nobleman, who vaguely resembles Bob Hope, has a series of adventures involving ghosts, demons, gypsies, an old hermit, two Moorish princesses, the Inquisition and more. There are flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks, and everybody, it seems, has a story to tell. The stories all eventually connect somehow, or maybe not, they're hard to track after a while, but either way, the movie just goes on and on and on for what seems like forever. It's in black and white. It's in Polish. It's outlandish. It's got a weird sense of humor. It probably won't keep you awake if you watch it late at night. A cult item, definitely, and a particular favorite of Jerry Garcia, which makes you wonder what Jerry was smoking at the time.