The Holy Mountain

e disabled, and contempt for animals, all in one film. This is not only Alejandro Jodorowsky's masterpiece, but (at least for me) I was healed by this film. It is this visual work, more than drugs or masturbation, that is the source of salvation for me. So this film is a Copernican turn in psychiatry beyond art. Thank you for saving me. And if you watch it without subtitles, you will have a much more enjoyable experience.

viewer of passive consumption. It's gooood.

Narratively, the film seems designed to provoke or enlighten its viewers with endless religious imagery, death and fertility tropes that even today, 53 years after its release, still elicits strong reactions for or against it. The film earns its blasphemous epithet -- and seemingly wears it like a badge of honor, with its 'thief' (Horacio Salinas) not-so-subtly depicted as Jesus Christ, who ascends a Tolkien-esque tower to meet the mysterious Alchemist (Jodorowsky). Once there, the Thief and the Alchemist join forces with seven other worldly, wealthy elites who plot together to ascend the fabled Holy Mountain and overthrow nine immortal gods in their own bid to achieve immortality. Any semblance to the Heaven’s Gate death cult of the 1990s is, of course, purely coincidence.  With graphic depictions of lechery, avarice, barbarism, animal sacrifices\* and -- yes -- even transmogrifying human excrement into literal gold -- Jodorowsky's **THE HOLY MOUNTAIN** is such a hallucinatory viewing experience, you might wonder if you accidentally licked a Sonoran Desert Toad (reportedly Jodorowsky administered psychedelics to his cast members during filming). With breathtaking visuals, and memorable artistic set pieces -- love it or hate it, Jodorowsky's film is both a sacrilegious metaphor for the degradations of the modern world, and a warning to live one's life with authenticity and meaning. \*Unfortunately, some animals are reported to have been actually harmed during the making of this film.