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Alejandro Jodorowsky: a master of bizarro cinema,
truly a maker of Phychotronic pictures, and
generally a pure weirdo. Probably most well known
for his gorgeous and bizarre quest film Holy Mountain,
Jodorowsky has made a few other films(though not too
many more) in his days. El Topo, and Santa Sangre are
two of those films, and both are playing in Boston
area theatres this week(see below)!

Jodorowsky is a Chilean artist who studied mime
under Marcel Marceau, and who later turned to the
world of surrealist fillmaking to better express himself.
Jodorowsky was the original choice to direct Dune. The job
eventually wound up in David Lynch’s hands, who of course
disowned the film after making it. In recent years there
have been rumor after rumor of Jodorowsky again directing a film,
but alas nothing has ever materialized. It has been a slog for
this singular artist, but he has left a few dumplings for us to
sample in his wake. His main pursuit today appears to practicing psychomagic, his own form of psychotherapy.

El Topo is a Western featuring
a lot of Eastern ideas, and symbolism. It became
a midnite sensation in NYC in the early 70s, eventually
finding a powerful fan in John Lennon. Lennon’s
influence eventually got Jodorowsky the money to
make Holy Mountain. You can find this Lazurus w/ spurs
tale @ the Coolidge this weekend on fri & sat @ midnite!

Santa Sangre, Jodorowsky’s second most recent film(though released
in 1989, The Rainbow Thief(1990) being his most recent)),
is a twisted(natch!)tale of a maternal relationship that
leads to murder, with a circus back story, and nods to
to the Hands of Orlac story(see Peter Lorre in Mad Love!).
Santa Sangre is playing TONIGHT @ the Brattle Theater!

Strange cinema indeed! Psychotronic? Um, yes!

EL TOPO trailer

SANTA SANGRE trailer