The Holy Mountain, dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico 1973, 114 min., English and Spanish with English subtitles, 18
The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s The Holy Mountain pits illusion against truth in a hallucinogenic flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism.
A shaman-like figure known as the Alchemist assembles a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. His intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.
