film: The Holy Mountain - Jodorowsky

[LightSeeker]

The Holy Mountain - Jodorowsky

Has anyone here seen "The Holy Mountain" or "El Topo" by Alejandro Jodorowsky? These are two of my favorite films of all time, as crazy as they are. What did you guys think? Did they leave an impact on you?

 

[ledhead06]

Yea, the Holy Mountain is a messed up movie. I've watched it on all sorts of drugs so i cant really remember most parts of it tho..

 

[mayantripper]

Yes, they blew my mind when I watched at my friends house when I was 20, but then I saw it on the big screen , and all these Canadians(i am guatemalan) laughed at the film, and I noticed all this technical mistakes that kind of bother me...it was weird. It is kind of like a first trip, it can never be the same the second time...and if you think about it, he really criticizes psychedelics, he mocks them as just another illusion.
I feel they have greatly enhanced my perceptions, I love tripping, but I believe that the path to enlightment is free of drugs. But in the mean time....
The social commentaries of the movie are my favorite parts. Jodo also tormented his actors so they were able to give that performance...yeah he is a very aware human...

 

[LightSeeker]

Someone finally replied! Yay!

Jodorowsky does go off on psychedelics- but the inherent philosophy of the movie is psychedelic in itself...

I've seen this movie maybe 10 times now, and every time it is different, I learn something new. The symbolism is too intense to capture the first time.

The first time I saw Holy Mountain and El Topo, my mouth was wide open for most of the film, my pupils were very dilated- because I could not believe that someone actually made this film. The Holy Mountain contains everything in it... it is transcendental meta cinema!!!

 

[ayjay]

What about Santa Sangre? Better than Holy Mountain and El Topo IMO...

 

[ledhead06]

Yeah, I've seen that movie so many times but it seems to be different every time i watch it! It might be because im always on some drug but i always see parts that I dont remember being in it, and I know a few people who have seen parts that aren't even in the movie! There is somethin about that movie, its crazy. Every time I watch it I realize something new about it, like points Jodorowsky tries to make. I remember saying before on a trip that it seems the movie is made so you have no idea what is going on the whole time and it makes no sense, but when you finish the movie and it's all put together it all makes perfect sense, wierd. I've seen El Topo a few times but I don't think its as good, though I've never seen that other one that was mentioned.

 

[LightSeeker]

Santa Sangre was far more toned down to a plot and combined everything Jodorowsky loves to do with imagery into a narrative which seems to be more about a specific part of life- the mother/son relationship. Beautiful film, but it didn't hit me like the others, although I can see why people would like it a lot more

 

[Fausty]

Wow, I am quite sure that one cannot understand the power of film without seeing Holy Mountain. Stunning.

To see life outside the boundaries is to see the boundaries themselves - and how arbitrary and flimsy they are.

Peace,

Fausty

ps: the deleted scenes on the DVD tell a story even more complex than the movie itself. Watching them makes me wonder why I'm such a fucking pansy about living life with intention.

 

[Fausty]

<shameless bump>

I kind of think that watching this movie has changed me in a substantive way. But I'm not sure how, yet. It just feels. . . different.

Peace,

Fausty