"Nothing in your education or experience can have prepared you for this film"

I did it again. 

Before taking stills from Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Holy Mountain, I knew I was about to be in possession of many, many jpegs. Seventy-nine to be exact - and I don't regret saving a single one. 

It seemed to be that The Holy Mountain would be a good follow up to Akira; apparently, Jodorowsky helped Otomo devise an ending for his post-apocalyptic animation (although Jodorowsky doesn't remember doing so. This is, sadly, taken from wikipedia, so don't quote me here). 

To keep it short, Jodorowsky is an extraordinary artist. His work transcends the realm of Buñuelian surrealism by being ruthlessly strange yet somehow coherent. His subversive imagery is almost never appalling; always seeming to activate some hidden curiosity in his viewers - as though the images they witness have been fish-hooked directly out of their subconscious. Best of all, despite the cynicism and satire that occupies this particular film, it has some of the funniest sequences you will ever witness (and perhaps, some of the most confounding). 

Before anyone asks, I'll come right out and say it: yes, Jodorowsky was taking drugs during the making of this film. But thinking solely about this fact will disrupt the dream-like sensations The Holy Mountain seeks to inspire. Unlike many recent films that use drugs as their selling point, Jodorowsky used drugs as an entryway into something grander: a way in which he could visualize such a beautiful film, whose images could not be fully understood, or remotely contained. 

PS: I think it will be a pretty standard affair that these stills contain spoilers. Also, this movie goes beyond the conventional R rating and never looks back, so many of these stills are NSFW. 

Many more photos to see...

Constructing false messiah's is not such a difficult task.

Unfortunately, dismantling them is not so easy...

The ending of The Holy Mountain is astoundingly insightful. What is the goal in making a film? To become a notable director? To make a decent profit? To construct a clearer sense of "reality"? No - at least, I believe that Jodorowsky would say it's a "no". I cannot speak for the man, but if I could make a wager, I'd bet that Jodorowsky would say that making a film should be an exploration of our humanity, and should be indicative of whatever this humanness entails.