ENDLESS POETRY. (2016) REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS.

Alejandro Jodorowsky Launches Crowdfunding Campaign To Finish Endless Poetry

GFF 2014 Review: The Dance of Reality (La danza de la realidad)

Genre:
World Cinema, Biography, Drama
Distributor:
Pathe International
Rating: 15
Release Date:
23rd February 2014 (UK,Glasgow Film Festival)
Director:
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Stars:
Brontis Jodorowsky, Pamela Florence, Jeremías Herskovits,Alejandro Jodorowky
Reviewing a film like Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Dance of Reality (La Danza de la Realidad) is a tricky thing. Rarely do films achieve such a level of mind-boggling skill, flaunting an incredible fusion of art and entertainment like nothing you’ve ever seen. The legendary director’s first film in 23 years is an account of his childhood in 1930’s Chile, focusing on his troubled relationship with his father. At the Glasgow Film Festival Q & A with Brontis Jodorowsky (Alejandro’s son and lead actor in The Dance of Reality) the film’s reconciliatory purposes were made clear.

Here Jodorowsky considers his entire youth, reimagining various important events and circumstance. The meticulously executed fantastical elements can at times seem intense, distancing the viewer from the actual story of the film. However, Jodorowsky’s unrelenting surrealism ultimately proves so literal it just seems impenetrable and that makes it all the more appreciable. Jodorowsky’s mother’s unfulfilled desire to be an opera singer is here addressed by having her sing all her lines. The half-finished quality to dreams and memories is here represented by all inconsequential characters’ wearing expressionless masks. Unresolved relations with his father are perhaps the most extensively addressed as it is Jaime (Brontis Jodorowsky) who is sent on a journey of self-exploration. This series of bizarre happenstance, set against a backdrop of political disorder and communist uprising, is an honest open letter to Jodorowsky’s estranged father.

The village of Tocopilla is exotic and farcical with a host of colourful characters, each new character appearing to paint another detail onto the intricate portrait of Jodorowsky’s youth. Most obvious in all this is that even in a break of almost a quarter century, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s wit and visual capability have not been dulled. These images and tales- in the end- only add up to one perspective, but with such accomplished cohesiveness The Dance of Reality feels like a hundred gorgeous vignettes of a fascinating world.  It would be a mistake for me to take characters or events and attempt to explore their relevance to the narrative of the film and, more importantly, Jodorowsky’s life. Instead I’ll urge you to see and experience it for yourself.

The journey to Jodorowsky’s past unveils a bizarre and utterly entrancing tale of philosophical coming-of-age. The vibrant atmosphere of “Python”-esque tom-foolery mixed with beautiful visuals and often blunt social critique makes Jodorowsky’s latest a welcome return.

★★★★★

Scott Clark

Alejandro Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre Review

★★★★☆

Watching an Alejandro Jodorowsky film is an exciting experience - you can expect provocative images, violent surrealism and a dreamlike narrative - all of which are on offer in his recently rereleased 1989 epic, Santa Sangre.

Jodorowsky's feature structured in three parts: present, past and future, tells us of the life of Fenix - a Mexican circus performer. After witnessing a brutal exchange between his performer parents, Fenix is left mentally disturbed and spends much of his youth in an asylum. The future sees his escape where he rejoins his disfigured mother, where the pair soon go on a chilling campaign of murder.

Santa Sangre has been labelled as a horror film, most likely due to bucket loads of disturbing content. However, it would be uncouth to confine Jodorowsky's film to one genre - Santa Sangre is a movie like no other, a truly surreal and unnerving experience. From the onset this is clear, and those new to Jodorowsky may be initially taken aback - it opens with a disturbed, naked feral man (the older Fenix) perched on a tree, growling at asylum staff. The weirdness continues throughout, escalating becoming more and more surreal and hallucinatory.

Jodorowsky's style is completely unmatched, although the religious undertones and surrealism of Santa Sangre could be compared to the work of the late great Ken Russell, most notably The Devils. It is a complete visual feast with set pieces, design, and performances all tying into Jodorowsky's greater psychedelic vision.

The nightmarish imagery proves truly haunting - mainly the twisted relationship of Fenix's parents - most notably his father Orgo's affair with the circus' tattooed lady. There's also some nasty scenes involving genitals and sulphuric acid and the chopping off of arms. However, Jodorowsky does also capture a human side to his characters from the oddball community developed by the circus performers - encapsulated in a sequence where the acts are brought together following the death of the show's elephant. However, disturbing imagery is never far off as the elephant's funeral soon ends in locals ripping up the creature and feasting on its flesh. Tasty.

Some may find Jodorowsky's surrealism and style verging on crude and pretentious (which it does), but underneath this all the director presents distinct moral messages on good and evil, power relationships and revenge. When the film's latter half finds itself falling into more straightforward horror territory, Jodorowsky's vibrant style and craftsmanship makes sure Santa Sangre continues to grip the audience.

Santa Sangre is truly a movie like no other - Jodorowsky's haunting and surreal visual style combined with his tackling of religion, community and revenge makes for an unforgettable experience.

Andrew McArthur

Stars: Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Adan Jodorowsky & Guy Stockwell
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Release: 21st September 2012 (Cinemas)
Rating: 18 (UK)