Jodorowsky and The Psychedelic Experience

This thread is more of a curiosity than anything, but here goes.

For those of you who haven't seen any of his films, Alejandro Jodorowsky's bio can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Jodorowsky

Jodorowsky is well-known for his scorchingly beautiful cinematography and art direction and the amazing soundtracks which accompany the films. He was greatly appreciated and funded by psychedelic luminaries, most notably John Lennon.

his most notable movies are probably El Topo and The Holy Mountain. Relayer is the most well-informed on the former (and probably the latter as well). I've seen The Holy Mountain over 100 times now while tripping and not and there is definitely something about this movie in particular which either mirrors or attempts to "re-create" the psychedelic experience.

According to the DVD commentary, during 1972 before filming The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky sent for a Zen master to teach him the art of Zen in preparation for some of the film's sequences. While many of these sequences were later left on the cutting room floor, Jodorowsky claims that upon asking the Zen master how to attain enlightment, the master recommended that Jodorowsky take LSD (something he'd never done) instead of spending hours meditating and disciplining himself in preparation for this film and he did so. Apparently it was a remarkable experience but he thought he could do better with film.

During the last day or so Relayer and I have been talking about these movies a lot and we are both befuddled by the fact that most psychenauts just don't appreciate them enough. We need YOU to help explain why. If you're interested in these movies, they are widely available for download and new bonus-filled DVD's just came out recently. They do have quite a few nonsensical and even violent scenes, but each with its own symbolism.

If you're a fan of this movie, have watched it, or plan to watch it soon, please reply to this thread!

 

Beautifuly layed out songcycle!
Im interested in people's reactions, should there be any :tongue:
When Im not so busy with work, I will type up my own experiences with his films and what I've taken away from them with each new viewing.
Namaste

 

Do you think blockbuster carries any of his films? Im interested.

 

Good question! I know Netflix does, but not sure about the ol' BB

 

Im gonna check it out and if they dont Ill just download it.

 

it's indeed a possibility, pr0ne. These days he seems to be quite the cult figure. But there's no Blockbuster in my area so I can't say for sure.

 

i have to say i've never heard of hoim or his movies. are they well known in america? or amongst the american psychonaut community? i'll give them a shot i guess. they seem to be quite worthwhile

 

They're fairly well-known in america these days. But if this gives you any indication as to the popularity: I was surprised to see someone on here with El Topo pics in their signature.

They're not necessarily "psychedelic" movies; more mystical than anything, but they definitely appeal to the psychedelic drug enthusiast, imo. Lots of eye candy, especially in El Topo and The Holy Mountain. Relayer probably knows more about his other movies as I haven't seen anything but pieces.

Edit: Another interesting tidbit that I left out in my original post: George Harrison was originally on for the part of "the theif" in The Holy Mountain, but turned it down due to a scene showing the alchemist washing the theif's buttocks.

I should also say that the first part of The Holy Mountain is pretty disgusting. The imagery is amazing, but it's intended to make you uncomfortable. Hold in there until the theif ascends the red tower and confronts the alchemist and I promise you won't be let down!

Also Jodorowsky is the person responsible for collecting and re-publishing the earliest known tarot deck in its original form with the original artwork. He is an immensely informed person on this subject and he spent a large portion of his life learning about the symbolism present in each card. Very interesting stuff if you care to read about it. On the DVD there's a bonus section where he explains the significance of each card in the deck and talks about his experience with the cards.

 

Just like a mushroom trip :tongue:

 

If you know how to use Torrents (and it would take you all of 2 minutes to learn how), you can download the movie from mininova dot org. It took me 7 hours to download last night (the holy mountain), and I am turning it on . . . now.

 

Can't wait to hear your response, Writer!

 

I saw the first 10 minutes of The Holy Mountain on YOuTube, and I refuse to watch the rest until I buy the DVD. I just keeping putting it off. But those first 10 minutes were brilliant.

 

Downloading now.

 

I've never heard of this, I'll download it while im at a punk show tonight. The Adicts are playing

 

any body have a link for down load? im very much interested in seeing his movies but i suspect theyd b hard to find

 

http://btjunkie.org/torrent/The-Hol.../4324216c7e31550ae360ccabe09ed8cb568f3718cf61

Sorry for such a long link .. it was the best one I could find. I am very interested in this movie and am downloading it right now. What do you guys suggest .. should I go ahead and watch it now and then re-watch it tripping .. or would it best be viewed tripping first? .. I think I want to save it for the next time I trip but I dont know!

 

So glad to see so much interest in this film! I'd recommend that you watch it sober first, as it can be extremely hard to follow while tripping. The visual feast should still be very appealing. Then when you trip you can groove on all the symbolism and cinematography you may have missed whilest sober.

Like I said, it's very psychedelic, but it's mainly a mystical film. And that definitely also appeals to the sober intellect.

 

Thanks for the opinion songcycle. I'll watch it sober a time or two and then watch it tripping. I am getting some Cid in a few days so watching and researching the movie will give me something fun to do while I wait. I'm so excited!

 

Great! And thanks for linking the torrent!

 

Downloading, hopefully will see it tonight.