THE DANMAN CAN

Tragedy upon tragedy.  Absurd, surreal, disturbing, and beautiful. Alejandro Jodorowsky Feature Films Ranked

Alejandro Jodorowsky ’s The Holy Mountain  (1973) is a surrealist, theatrical, and to some pretentious, sacrilegious, antagonist head trip.  Without a single line of dialogue spoken until 30 minutes in, the film features meticulously designed, beautifully shot, seemingly random scenes—some mystical, some comical, some sexual, some disturbing. Lizards bedecked in royalty, an elderly gentlemen bestowing a glass-eyed gift to an underage prostitute, electronic orgasms, rock & roll weapons—these are just a few of the images on display in Jodo’s existential, political, poetical, spiritual, personal masterwork.  A truly singular work of art about everything and nothing at all made by an artist outside the system with no interference. You can find my  Alejandro Jodorowsky Feature Films Ranked  list  here .

Next to The Holy Mountain  (1973), El Topo (1970) is widely considered Alejandro Jodorowsky 's second best film. Those were indeed the first two AJ films that I saw and they both had an impact on me. But after I saw his films Santa Sangre  (1989) (my review here ), and then later on  The Dance Of Reality   (2013) (my review here ) and  Endless Poetry  (2016) (my review here ), my opinion of El Topo  has waned a bit. Jodorowsky's acid "Italian" Western (though Spanish is the film's spoken language, it was filmed in Mexico, and Jodo himself is Chilean) sees the director starring as the titular character, a gunfighter on a quest for enlightenment. On the way he meets many unusual characters and lots of surrealist non sequiturs occur. There is no denying that El Topo  is a unique film, and I still like it a great deal overall, but over the years (this was the third or fourth time I've watched it) some of its power has been diminished. There's lots of...

Fando And Lis (1968),  Alejandro Jodorowsky 's feature debut, introduced the world to many of the controversial avant-garde filmmaker's trademarks but doesn't quite have the finesse present in his other films. Both times that I've watched F&L  I've felt a bit disengaged and even bored at times, but there is no denying that there is striking imagery and imagination on display.  It caused a scandal in Mexico when it was released but most of it seems fairly quaint by today's standards. Still, this odyssey by one of cinema's most unique voices remains an interesting dry run, if you will, for Jodorowsky to go truly bonkers in the early 1970s with his cult films  El Topo and The Holy Mountain . The new 4K-scanned transfer on the ABKCO / Arrow Video  Blu-ray box sets is a revelation as well, besting the previous DVD by Fantoma by a wide margin.

Endless Poetry  (2016) is another semi-autobiographical film from surrealist  Alejandro Jodorowsky , a sister "sequel" to 2013's The Dance Of Reality   (2013)  (my review  here ). Picking up right where that film left off, Poetry  continues the embellished and hyper-stylized story of Jodorowsky as a young poet and his artist friends in Chile. Once again filled with striking visuals, vibrant costumes and passionate performances, Poetry  is another memorable film from a truly visionary artist.

Where The Bird Sings Best  (1992) is exactly how I expected one of Jodorowsky 's books to read. As with his films: surrealist, fantastical, absurd—filled with passion, nihilism, beauty, ugliness, poetry, religion, and politics.

Thoughts from original viewing here .

Viewing #2 of The Dance Of Reality  (2013). I still hold to my comments after my first viewing: Another indescribable, mind-boggling, thought-provoking, beautiful and gruesome, poetic and unique film from  Jodo . None of his films are easy to digest and many may not know how to react to them. I'm glad that there are still some filmmakers making strange and deeply personal cinema out there.

1.   Boyhood   ***** 2.   Under The Skin   ****1/2 3.   Jodorowsky's Dune   ****1/2 ( Review ) 4.   The Strange Color Of Your Body's Tears   (2013) ****1/2 ( Review ) 5.   The Grand Budapest Hotel   ****1/2 ( Review ) 6.   Nightcrawler   **** 7.   The Dance Of Reality  (2013) **** ( Review ) 8.   Locke  (2013) **** 9.    The Drop   **** 10.  Blue Ruin   (2013)   **** 11. Enemy  (2013) **** ( Review ) 12. A Field In England  (2013) **** ( Review ) 13. Gone Girl   ***1/2 14. X-Men: Days Of Future Past   ***1/2 ( Review ) 15. Only Lovers Left Alive   (2013) ***1/2 16. Birdman   ***1/2 17. Starry Eyes   ***1/2 18. The Babadook  ***1/2 19. The Guest  ***1/2 20.  Cheap Thrills   (2013) ***1/2 Honorable Mentions 1.   Wrong Cops  (2013) ***1/2 2.   Dawn Of The Planet Of The ...

The Dance Of Reality   (2013) is another indescribable, mind-boggling, thought-provoking, beautiful and gruesome, poetic and unique film from Alejandro Jodorowsky . An early scene featuring some dodgy CGI had me slightly worried, but my fears were quickly absolved. None of his films are easy to digest and many may not know how to react to them. I'm glad that there are still some filmmakers making strange and deeply personal cinema out there. Watch this clip . If it bothers you in any way, you have no business watching a Jodorowsky film.

Jodorowsky's Dune  (2013) is my favorite film of the year so far. Jodorowsky  is so animated, fun and inspiring to watch. His version of Dune  looks like it would have been amazing and I wish so badly that it had been made. This documentary is excellent, the subjects interviewed are engaging, and it features a great score. I could recommend it to almost anyone, even if you haven't read  Frank Herbert 's 1965 novel (I haven't), aren't terribly familiar with the story or its characters, or Jodorowsky's films.

Lizards bedecked in royalty, elderly gentlemen bestowing glass-eyed gifts to underage prostitutes, electronic orgasms. Rainbow assassin Possibly the coolest 30ish seconds of film you'll ever see.

Bandidos with shoe fetishes, armless men with legless men strapped to them, randy elder women demanding pampering from manservants.

Jealousy, revenge, circus performers, blasphemous religion, armless mothers, deaf/mute lovers, hallucinations, and dying elephants. I found  Santa Sangre  (1989) to be more narrative than either El Topo  (1970) or The Holy Mountain   (1973). It feels simpler, more straightforward and a bit less self-conscious. It's still bizarre...but it has heart. I enjoyed the first half of the film more though, well perhaps the first two-thirds. The end starts to feel a little cliche (elements of giallo ) and there's no real great mystery revealed (at least, not for me). It felt similar to  Hardware , in that both films seem like they should be so kick ass on the surface, but some of the execution left me feeling just the slightest bit let down. Incidentally, Simon Boswell scored both those films. But the visuals are superb and most of the performances are great, particularly Blanca Guerra and the director's son,  Axel Jodorowsky 's physical performanc...