Saturday,
May 26 at 7:30pm
Alejandro
Jodorowsky Double Feature
Co-presented
by Joseph A. Gervasi
El
Topo – New 35mm print
dir.
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1970, 35mm, 125 mins, color, Spanish
w/
English subtitles
 A
fascinating collision of 60s avant-garde theater, Latin American
symbolism, European radical cinema and the furthest reaches
of the movie western, El Topo chronicles the exploits
of a master gunfighter and cosmic mystic (played by director
Jodorowsky himself) as he sets out to do battle with four sinister,
sharp-shooting rivals.
John Lennon declared the film a masterpiece, and the rest was
history: Jodorowsky’s film became an international cult classic
and was one of the key works to establish the concept of the
“midnight movie.” Now lovingly restored, El Topo feels
no less provocative than when first released, but today also
evidences a kind of multi-cultural fusion that puts it far ahead
of its time.
followed
by
The
Holy Mountain
dir.
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico, 1973, 35mm, 114 mins, color, Spanish
and English w/ English subtitles
Greeted with equal volumes of whistles, catcalls and cheers
at its controversial Cannes premiere, Jodorowsky’s follow-up
to
El Topo is a riot of mystic and religious imagery underlining
its vision of a spiritual quest towards enlightenment. An austere
figure known as The Alchemist (Jodorowsky), holed up in a sheer-faced
tower, brings together a diverse group of disciples from every
culture and corner of the galaxy to embark with him on a journey
to the Holy Mountain, where together they will try to unseat
the immortal beings who secretly rule the universe.
Even less constrained than previously by narrative conventions,
Jodorowsky attempts to transform the experience of the film
itself into a kind of shamanistic ritual. The extraordinary
re-enactment of the “Conquest of Mexico” featuring a cast of
toads and lizards is alone worth the price of admission.
Between
films is a performance by La Secta with
The Skyeclad Cloud Collective (featuring
Greg Weeks of Espers and The Valerie Project).
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