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The surreal atmosphere of the film is enhanced
by Jerzy Skarzynski's set design. There are moments (as in the final scenes of the story)
when what we see is strongly reminiscent of paintings by Picasso, Dali, or Goya, all of
them Spaniards, by the way. The Oriental decorations are just slightly to Oriental, the
Baroque is slightly too Baroque. The Caballist's castle is a charming eclectic ruin
sufficiently unreal to promote an aura of mystery. As to Venta Quemada, the haunted inn,
its exterior is pure Goya, its interior either an Oriental serai or a similarly Goyan
hovel. Even the Hermit's chapel is skull-like with its two-windowed facade. The
surrealism of the set extends to its natural elements. The trees of Sierra Morena have
been produced to match the gallows and the heaps of skulls. Sierra Morena itself is not
Sierra Morena at all. For one thing, no movie producer in Socialist countries could
possibly afford extensive shooting on location in a Western country. More importantly, to
disguise the Częstochowa Plateau as a mountain range in Spain was a further signal sent
to, at least, the Polish audience who could not be fooled, that the whole thing was a
hoax.
"Saragossa," as it appears in numerous scenes in the movie, was built from
the scratch. It was much easier to adapt a small Polish town to play "Madrid" as
Poland's and Spain's common Roman-Catholic heritage ensured a wealth of interesting
Baroque church architecture. |
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