Runtime: 123 minutes
Directed by: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Starring: Two of the director's kids (Axel and Adan), Blanca Guerra, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou, Sabrina Dennison
From: Mexican and Italian companies
You know, I'm led to believe that Alejandro Jodorowsky is a weird dude!
Some will be aghast that before last night I had never seen a movie from this famed director; sure, he has had a rather limited output and has done other things with his life, but strange avant-garde usually isn't my bag so who knows how I'd react to El Topo or The Holy Mountain... I may find it to be twaddle too preoccupied with being strange, or something that I'd need to best experience right after a hit of The Purple Acid. However, this is available to rent on Prime and is the 4K print that Severin scanned a few years ago and just this past May released on UHD. It looks excellent so if you're a fan and haven't seen that yet...
For a story with many strange elements and odd non-sequitors, thankfully it was straightforward and never difficult to follow. The protagonist is Fenix, a young adult male who is in what used to be called then a mental hospital. There are flashbacks to him as a young boy in a Mexico City circus who has rather unorthodox parents... his dad is a knife-thrower who is rather blatant in romancing other women and mom leads a cult that worships a young lady without arms-in English, Santa Sangre means “Holy Blood”. This features: a sick elephant, a deaf-mute girl who would later be a key plot point, a woman fully tattooed below the neck-back when that was rare-lucha libre (Mexican professional wrestling), someone w/ dwarfism, several scenes w/ blood gushing out, and many unsubtle moments-which worked in this case as it wasn't trying to push an agenda or beat you over the head with a message. I am amused that the two people who played Fenix was two of the director's sons. Then again, from hearsay I understand that Alejandro himself did a lot of odd s*** on camera in El Topo and The Holy Mountain.
There are reasons why after sleeping on it this gets such a high rating. It was directed w/ expert flair, which makes me realize that it's a shame Jodorowsky hasn't done more. I laughed in disbelief at times, which isn't meant as a negative. It has a great score from Simon Boswell which naturally has a Latin flavor and overall is a haunting story which is actually about ::redacted:: and that is a thought-provoking theme to address, even if it's done in such a bold way where many people are killed, always in graphic ways but not always shown on screen. Most importantly for me, this will be the most distinctive motion picture I see for the next two or so months, with at least several moments I am sure to not forget anytime soon. It was a surreal yet rewarding journey that for certain be one of the best horror movies-if not the best-this season.
No comments:
Post a Comment