THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973, Dir: Jodorowsky)
The Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 1BB
Thursday 5th October 2023
Following Jodorowsky's underground hit El Topo, acclaimed by both John Lennon and George Harrison, the film was produced by the Beatles manager Allen Klein of ABKCO Music and Records. Lennon and Yoko Ono contributed production money. The film was not given a wide release until over 30 years following its original premiere.
Jodorowsky's most ambitious film sees the director himself play The Alchemist, a guru who guides a troupe of pilgrims, each representing a planet of the Solar System, on a magical quest to Lotus Island where they must ascend the Holy Mountain in search of spiritual enlightenment.
"Mr. Jodorowsky’s movie is a dazzling, rambling satire on consumerism, militarism and the exploitation of third world cultures by the West. It unfurls like a hallucinogenic daydream." - The New York Times.
Jodorowsky's most ambitious film sees the director himself play The Alchemist, a guru who guides a troupe of pilgrims, each representing a planet of the Solar System, on a magical quest to Lotus Island where they must ascend the Holy Mountain in search of spiritual enlightenment.
"Mr. Jodorowsky’s movie is a dazzling, rambling satire on consumerism, militarism and the exploitation of third world cultures by the West. It unfurls like a hallucinogenic daydream." - The New York Times.
