Michelle gives a brief overview of three stunning movies that have defined Jodorowsky's career as a film maker.
EL TOPO (1970)
El Topo is the
perfect place to start for adventurous film enthusiasts who want to get
acquainted with the absolute insanity that is the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky. Jodorowsky himself plays the titular character,
El Topo, a mysterious, black leather-clad cowboy who is traveling in the desert
with his young son. The film initially plays out as a deconstructed western
(sometimes called “Acid Western”) and eventually transitions into an odd
religious allegorical piece. Some of the symbolism is blasphemous in nature and
the film as a whole can be seen as a critique on various religions. If you have
never watched a surrealist art film before some of the imagery in this film
will blow your mind and most likely shock you.
This film takes place in a crimson blood-splattered
nightmare punctuated by incomprehensible interludes and conversations. Jodorowsky
pulls no punches in depicting the savage beauty inherent in the stark wasteland
of the arid desert and some scenes are very brutal and hard to watch. On the
flip side, surrealism often teeters on the precipice of lunacy; you will more
often than not be laughing hysterically at the exaggerated and ludicrous
characters. Is some of this stuff weird for the sake of being weird? I would
say yes, but at the same time I don’t think this is a negative thing. What else
is art for but to explore uncharted territory and cross boundaries?
After watching this film, you may feel conflicted and
unsettled. You will most likely ask yourself one of two questions: “What in the
hell did I just watch?” or “Where can I find more crazy stuff like this?” If
you do end up in the latter category, then you will be excited to discover that
this is just the entrance to Jodorowsky’s psychedelic rabbit hole, and there
are even more fantastic sights to see if you care to travel further inside.
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973)
If you are still with me after watching El Topo I commend you. However, you still will not be fully
prepared for the balls-to-the-wall madness that will assault your eyeballs
while watching The Holy Mountain. After
the underground success of El Topo, Alejandro
Jodorowsky was able to secure funding for a bigger budget feature. The extra
money let him exercise his creativity much more fully and fill The Holy Mountain to the brim with a
cornucopia of bizarre imagery and sounds. This film is hands down the weirdest
thing I have seen in my entire life. I have watched a lot of films so this is a
very bold statement indeed.
In normal films, there may be some light symbolism or things
that can be construed as metaphor; in this film everything is symbolic and it’s up to the viewer to make heads or
tails of what is going on. It’s an exercise in post-modern, Dadaist filmmaking
designed to test the limits of comprehension. The basic plot covers a “hero’s
journey” of sorts as you follow a man on his quest to climb the famed Holy Mountain
and attain enlightenment. On the way you will see a midget with no arms, a
Jesus statue factory, an entire village populated by small lizards wearing
fancy hats, a baby hippo who likes to frolic in water fountains, a giant
mechanical robot vagina and other freakish sights. Honestly, it’s impossible to
describe this film to someone without sounding like you are just making it all
up.
What makes this film watchable (at least for me) is the joy
and love for cinema that Jodorowsky imbues into every single scene in the film.
He goes in all the way and travels wherever his vision takes him; narrative
structure be damned. Some of it doesn’t work but when it does it’s incredible. Perhaps
it can be described as self-indulgent and there are people who seem to hate
anything that is considered avant-garde, but there should be a place for everything
and anything in cinema. Now that you have climbed your own cinematic Holy
Mountain, you are ready to see what is at the summit. Things are going to get
quite a bit darker from here on out.
SANTA SANGRE (1989)
Santa Sangre is Jodorowsky’s
attempt at making a horror film; being the genius that he is, it is anything
but conventional. The tone is much more somber and foreboding than his earlier
films and the plot is somewhat straightforward (for him anyway). It’s always
interesting to see a director’s style mature as he ages and refines his
techniques. After coming from the rollercoaster ride that is The Holy Mountain, this film will seem
subdued in comparison. The color pallet has been reduced to dark muddy browns,
burnt orange and occasional splashes of red. It almost seems like a religious
fresco come to life albeit with decidedly unholy connotations.
At the center of the story is a man named Fenix who resides
in an insane asylum for unknown reasons. The film travels back and forth into
different periods of Fenix’s life to attempt to illustrate just what happened
to make him lose his mind. As an interesting aside: the child and adult version
of Fenix are played by both of Jodorowsky’s sons! Fenix’s childhood was spent
living and working at a carnival with his trapeze artist mother and various
other oddities and freaks. It jumps
around between present day and the past quite frequently so you have to pay
close attention to keep everything straight.
There is a very sinister atmosphere which makes the film
tense to watch. Jodorowsky is the master of playing with the audiences’
perceptions and expectations. While the story may be easier to follow
initially, it eventually evolves into a nightmarish fever dream full of
unexplained occurrences and surreal fragments. I would say that this is the
most accessible film of Jodorowsky’s oeuvre but it is more satisfying to watch
after you have the context of his earlier works. It is intriguing to watch a
director discover his passion, completely give himself over to it and finally
wrangle it under his control. People say many things about Alejandro
Jodorowsky, but the one thing they never say is that he bores them.
