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Vol. 2, Issue #10 June 8th - June 21st, 2007
DVD Review: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky
While he may be cinema’s greatest mystic, Jodorowsky is also one of the most brutal and politically incorrect filmmakers of his time; animals (that would be killed for food anyway) were killed and slaughtered for the sake of his disturbing, yet poetic images, naked children populate his landscape, and he doesn’t flinch in showing the brutal side of human relationships, especially rape, often as a doorway to spiritual awakening.
Unfortunately the film bombed as a regular release. Lennon went on to fund “The Holy Mountain,” but a disagreement between Jodorowsky and Klein cause Klein to pull both films from the U.S. market “forever.” Luckily, the two men have finally made up and both films are back in the mix as DVDs. “El Topo” stands as a gigantic work of experimental film. The title character, played by Jodorowsky, is a leather clad gunman who rides through the desert to encounter and disembowel gay bandits, shoot master gunfighters who refuse to fight, drink from phallic rock fountains that give water, and to rescue a group of maimed and disfigured humans who are trapped in a mountain, only to see them slaughtered by the ruling class. The film features little dialogue, but the silence is filled with the sounds of goats, Sufi horns, and other disturbing noises. The framing and cinematography are both as startling as the images are repulsive.
Both films are available separately, but the box set also includes a short color film, “La Cravate” (1957) about a woman who can interchange people’s heads, and his 1968 film “Fando Y Liz,” about a woman who cannot walk and her boyfriend who pushes her on a cart across the desert and though mountains to find the mythical lost city of Tar. The box also includes CD soundtracks to “El Topo “ and “The Holy Mountain,” and all three feature films include extensive commentary by Jodorowsky subtitled in English. Like “El Topo,” Jodorowsky was an underground cinema bandit who fought his way to Master status of experimental film. His unique vision is well worth exploring. |
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©2007 NONCO Media, L.L.C.