Jodorowsky

The Holy Mountain [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Review by Mark Deming
While not as well-known as his iconic lysergic western El Topo, which became one of the major midnight movies of the '70s, The Holy Mountain is arguably the definitive work from Chilean/Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, a visually dazzling and gloriously confounding story of the search for spiritual enlightenment. While it's all but impossible to describe what happens in The Holy Mountain, given its emphasis on surreal visuals over narrative, it's a cult film for the best reasons – love it or hate it, it's a remarkable and thoroughly individual accomplishment – and the soundtrack album, featuring Jodorowsky's original score, is an eclectic and interesting listen in its own right. The music sways from rock ("Psychedelic Weapons") to esoteric folk music ("Pissed and Passed Out") to subtle tone poems ("Violence of the Lambs") to grand-scale orchestral themes ("Christs 4 Sale"), with plenty of room for lyrical musical backdrops ("Communion"), a dash of vintage dance music ("A Walk in the Park"), and even some Tuvan throat singing ("Trance Mutation").

This boxset from Anchor Bay is a fabulous surprise.

Classic Americana and avant-garde European cinema sensibilities meet Zen Buddhism and the Bible as master gunfighter and cosmic mystic El Topo (played by writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky) must defeat his four sharp-shooting rivals on an ever-increasingly bizarre path to allegorical self-enlightenment and surreal resurrection.

"Jodorowsky wanted to change the World, to enlighten it spiritually, by making The Holy Mountain. Although he put a tremendous effort and knowledge and imagination, he failed to do so, because the World did not want to change. He changed. He found his "enlightenment" and nowdays he's a different person than his younger self in 1973. By watching this film, you have a chance of learning some important spiritual lessons. By listening to the Director's commentary ( included on separate audio track ) you have a chance to understand better this complex multi-layered film, which is a bit more than a film, and a bit more than a work of art. This is one of the rare directors that I really recommend listening to: there's so much knowledge, wisdom, insights, interesting life stories to hear from him, and a lot of chances to laugh as well…but, even if you're not interested in spirituality, you can just enjoy this visually stunning, colourful, surreal adventure…"

Ce livre rassemble des décennies de réflexions et de pratiques psychomagiques ainsi qu’une introduction à la psychotranse, développant l’imagination comme forme de guérison ; c’est une excellente introduction au travail d’Alejandro Jodorowsky, accessible au grand public.

"Bouncer” es un cómic magistral creado por ese tipo genial y polifacético capaz de lo mejor y lo peor llamado Alejandro Jodorowsky (“El Incal”, “El lama blanco”). En esta serie, el chileno se muestra mucho más comedido que en otras en su misticismo y plantea una serie rica en tópicos y tramas entrelazadas que le resultarán familiares al lector a las que Jodorowsky da un aire original y novedoso, con unos personajes potentes y perfectamente definidos de los que cuesta tiempo olvidar.

Texto de contraportada: "La vocación de Alejandro Jodorowsky hacia el lenguaje simbólico le dio, desde temprana edad, un oído muy especial para las fábulas místicas, formas privilegiadas para la transmisión de sabiduría. Cuando en 1967 Luis Spota dirigía el suplemento cultural de El Heraldo de México, Jodorowski le ofreció una colaboración periódica que combinaría dos terrenos cuya enorme potencialidad conocía bien: la fábula y el cómic. Él mismo escribiría y dibujaría una plana a color, cada una con una anécdota individual que comenzaba y terminaba en cada número. Llamó a esta experiencia: "Fábulas pánicas", usando el nombre del Pánico, el movimiento artístico de vanguardia que Jodorowsky había fundado en 1962.