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Released by: Anchor Bay
Released on: 4/26/2011
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Cast: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders
Year: 1973
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The Movie:
Fans of Chilean-born director Alejandro Jodorowsky will not doubt be excited to see his movies being released on Blu-ray. The Holy Mountain was withheld from release due to a dispute with the rights owner, but copies eventually made it out on tape and into the bootleg market (you can thank Jodo for that, whom according to his own words distributed some copies illegally so people could see it). For over 30 years the film never saw commercial distribution until Anchor Bay's 2007 standard definition DVD, and now it makes its debut in high-definition.
The story starts with a thief, who resembles Jesus Christ, jumping around town with his hand-less and leg-less friend. He goes from being part of a re-enactment of the invasion of a Mayan city by the Christians, with the characters being portrayed by chameleons and toads, to having his entire body cast to reproduce life-sized crucifixes.
He sees a giant hook lowered down from an enormous tower with a bag of gold attached to it (in exchange for food) and jumps on the hook as it is reeled back up. Inside the tower he finds The Alchemist (played by Jodorowsky himself) who takes him on as an apprentice. The Alchemist then shows The Thief eight people in positions of power, each representing a planet, with their various and extreme ways of maintaining their power. The Alchemist informs him that these eight individuals will accompany them and The Alchemist's assistant to Lotus Island. The mission is reach the top of the mountains and overthrow the Immortals who reside there, making them all immortal in turn.
So the ten planet-people venture forth on their journey through physical endurance, psychological fortitude, and rough conditions. The goal: to shed themselves of their wealth, their fear, and their identities in order to achieve the ultimate prize…infinite existence.
At least that's what this viewer understood the story to be.
The Holy Mountain is chock full of religious symbolism, and not just Christian, and is most probably seen as sacrilegious by many religious entities. There are plenty of images to shock, to offend, or to disturb people from all walks of life and at first watch this film may seem to newcomers to the director's films as little more than just a giant pile of arthouse shit soaked with 100 gallons of pretension. It may turn a lot of people off. But once you get past the notion that this is just avant-garde hooey, it becomes clearly evident that this movie is the work of someone with an incredible brain.
It's intensely heavy on allegory and philosophy, which seems tough to follow at first, but after a while it starts to sink in and things begin to make more sense. For example, there's a scene involving the burning of The Thief's shit, which turns it to gold. The Alchemist is showing the thief that he is a turd in society, but can mold himself to someone of great value to society. And the trek up Lotus Mountain for immortality is intended to convey a message used by Tyler Durden in Fight Club: it's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything.
Another thing Jodorowsky seems to be saying in this movie is that people seek enlightenment in the wrong ways: poetry, acts of great efforts, or drugs (although he admits having given his actors mushrooms for certain scenes in the film). Go on your own quest to find what you are looking for, don't ride the coattails of what someone else tells you is the way. This is most evident in the “Pantheon Barâ€, a spot along their journey where most people give up their goal to the mountain top in exchange for fame and partying.
Among the scenes that may not sit well with some are scenes involve animal carcasses, a pretty brutal dog fight (though thankfully not to the end), and the blowing up of a bunch of chameleons and toads. For whatever reason, they saw it fit to blow up those cute little things in their Mayan garb and Conquistador uniforms and that might turn off some people as well. There're also a lot of naked children in this film, which also can help make some viewers uneasy.
The imagery, shock-value items aside, is amazing. The sets pieces are at times intense (like the eyeball room, where they burn money), always chock full of color, and it seems as though pain-staking efforts were made to have many sets look like individual pieces of living artwork. Once the movie switches gears from the surreal world to the real world as they trek up the mountain, the photography of the Mexican landscape is at times quite beautiful. The movie really seems to kick you in the nuts and then ease you back down as the story progresses. This is not for everyone, certainly not the mainstream lemmings, and if you see it for the first time, give it another viewing. You may find it better the second time.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Holy Mountain is brought to Blu-ray by Anchor Bay with a 1080p high-definition, AVC encoded transfer, with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. There is a substantial amount of grain, probably due to the film stock used coupled with the age of the source material. Clearly some noise reduction was used in the restoration process, making some sections seem a bit hazy. This also has an effect on the black levels, which when compared to other Blu-rays, leaves a little to be desired. But all this is forgivable and one would imagine this is the best the film has ever looked on home video. Jodorowsky employs an inspired use of colors, giving a sense of hyper-reality at times, and they really bust through on this disc.
The main audio track is DTS-HD MA Master 5.1, which sounds fine. The music sounds full, the sub-woofer helps enhance the mood of certain scenes, and there seems to be a proper balance between the sounds and the speaking. It does appear that the majority of the sound comes from the front though. No disc issues to report.
There are a host of extras, all of which duplicate the extras on the 2007 standard definition DVD. Included are roughly six minutes of deleted scenes (with director commentary), a five-and-a-half minute piece on the restoration process of the film (what a difference!), the original trailer, and a montage of script pages and photos, lasting about four minutes. There is also a short subject on the Tarot cards (which play a big part in the story's complicated symbolism), narrated by Jodorowsky. He talks of his studies of the Tarot deck and offers his interpretations on some of the cards.
But the real star of the extras is the commentary. The director talks about the meanings of certain visuals and scenes and his intent on conveying messages. It really helps us to understand a lot more than one may take away from viewing the film without it. He is very candid about himself during that time period in his life and offers some interesting stories. One involves George Harrison (yes, of The Beatles) who wanted to play The Thief, but disapproved of one scene. Jodo told him it was vital to the character, so Georgey backed out. Another involves a scene where a soldier castrates a young man. The soldier was on acid, and when the director yelled “cut!â€, the soldier thought he meant “cut of his nuts†and almost really castrated the poor kid. Although there are some silent spots, it's a great commentary (in Spanish, but with subtitles) and really helps to enhance the overall viewing experience.
The Final Word:
For better or worse, there is no way to watch this film and not talk about it. If it clicks with you, it really pushes you to put your brain to work. If you are a newly inducted member into the Alejandro Jodorowsky School of Mind-Melding, it is highly recommended you watch it first on it's own, then with the commentary on. This is a Blu-ray release that deserves being picked up.
