Despite having seen his name mentioned in connection to "off-beat" cinema for years,I have somehow never got round to seeing a title by writer/directing auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky.With a poll being held on IMDb's Classic Film board for the best titles of 2014,I felt that it was the perfect time to witness Jodorowsky's first film in 23 years.
The plot:
Fearing that his sons girl-like long hair is stopping him from "manning up", Jaime takes his young son Alejandro to the barbers.Ignoring the pleas from his wife Sara,Jaime attempts to harden the boy up by teaching him about how a man should behaviour,from kicking beggars to the curb,to taking raw slaps across the face,and having a filling done with no anaesthetic.
Worshipping Stalin (to the point where he has a Pop star-style poster on his wall!) Jaime becomes part of an underground group of communists which includes clowns,lesbians and fellow Jewish residence who are noticing an increasing amount of anti-Semitism in the village.Feeling that military president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's grip on power is gaining strength,the group decide that they must assassinate Campo,so that communist rule can finally take over.Taking on the task of killing Campo,Jaime waves goodbye to his family & the small village,as he travels to the big city for his target.As Jaime sets his sights on Campo,he finds himself taking part in a dance on the very edge of reality.
View on the film:
Towering above the movie as an on-screen narrator,writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky brings his autobiography to life by offering a blend of enchanting surrealism and stark,harsh Drama.Backed by a wonderfully strange circus score from Alejandro's son Adan) Jodorowsky elegantly uses Fantasy to build an atmosphere where the viewer is never completely sure over what is real and what is imagination.Filmed on location in his childhood village,Jodorowsky and cinematographer Jean-Marie Dreujou use decaying blues & reds to show the light that Alejandro is desperate to find in the darkness.
Along with the eye-catching costumes designed by Alejandro's wife Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky, (when ol' Alejandro makes a flick,it's a family day out!)Jodorowsky stops the audience from ever being able to settle down,thanks to packing the title with explosively bonkers touches which go from Alejandro's mum only being able to speak in operetta,to Alejandro's mum curing her husband's illness by peeing on him.
Keeping the title at a child's eye view Jodorowsky keeps away from sentimentalising any area of this allegorical childhood,with every slap from Jaime and anti-Semitic remark from the village cutting a piece out of Alejandro's heart.Whilst Jodorowsky shows Jaime to never feel love towards anyone other than Stalin,Jodorowsky uses the final 30 minutes to offer a sliver of epiphany,as Jaime finds his dreams being left to fade in the fields with the wild horses.Although the final 30 minutes of Jodorowsky's 130 minute canvas do offer the chance to focus on Jaime's inner feelings,Jodorowsky's final flight-of-Fantasy's sadly lose a bit of there bounce,due to the electrifying Jaime/Alejandro relationship not being there as a launch pad.
Making this a full-on family affair, Brontis Jodorowsky slides the movie into a warped psychoanalysis world that would make Freud's head explode,as Brontis gives a superb performance as his dads dad.Given the hardest of rides possible by his dad, (with a scene involving his testicles V an electric cable being a real moment for the family album!) Brontis matches Jaime's blunt,brutal treatment towards his son,with an oddly quiet assertive manner,with Brontis showing loneliness in Jaime's eyes,as his assassination dreams turn to a fading memory.Not even being 10 years old when making the title, Jeremias Herskovits gives an extraordinary performance as Alejandro,with Herskoits keeping the character away from being sickly sweet,by showing Alejandro's tears of terror from the pain caused by his dad,with tears of joy from the Fantasy's that he is making,as Alejandro takes his feet off the dance floor of reality.
The plot:
Fearing that his sons girl-like long hair is stopping him from "manning up", Jaime takes his young son Alejandro to the barbers.Ignoring the pleas from his wife Sara,Jaime attempts to harden the boy up by teaching him about how a man should behaviour,from kicking beggars to the curb,to taking raw slaps across the face,and having a filling done with no anaesthetic.
Worshipping Stalin (to the point where he has a Pop star-style poster on his wall!) Jaime becomes part of an underground group of communists which includes clowns,lesbians and fellow Jewish residence who are noticing an increasing amount of anti-Semitism in the village.Feeling that military president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's grip on power is gaining strength,the group decide that they must assassinate Campo,so that communist rule can finally take over.Taking on the task of killing Campo,Jaime waves goodbye to his family & the small village,as he travels to the big city for his target.As Jaime sets his sights on Campo,he finds himself taking part in a dance on the very edge of reality.
View on the film:
Towering above the movie as an on-screen narrator,writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky brings his autobiography to life by offering a blend of enchanting surrealism and stark,harsh Drama.Backed by a wonderfully strange circus score from Alejandro's son Adan) Jodorowsky elegantly uses Fantasy to build an atmosphere where the viewer is never completely sure over what is real and what is imagination.Filmed on location in his childhood village,Jodorowsky and cinematographer Jean-Marie Dreujou use decaying blues & reds to show the light that Alejandro is desperate to find in the darkness.
Along with the eye-catching costumes designed by Alejandro's wife Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky, (when ol' Alejandro makes a flick,it's a family day out!)Jodorowsky stops the audience from ever being able to settle down,thanks to packing the title with explosively bonkers touches which go from Alejandro's mum only being able to speak in operetta,to Alejandro's mum curing her husband's illness by peeing on him.
Keeping the title at a child's eye view Jodorowsky keeps away from sentimentalising any area of this allegorical childhood,with every slap from Jaime and anti-Semitic remark from the village cutting a piece out of Alejandro's heart.Whilst Jodorowsky shows Jaime to never feel love towards anyone other than Stalin,Jodorowsky uses the final 30 minutes to offer a sliver of epiphany,as Jaime finds his dreams being left to fade in the fields with the wild horses.Although the final 30 minutes of Jodorowsky's 130 minute canvas do offer the chance to focus on Jaime's inner feelings,Jodorowsky's final flight-of-Fantasy's sadly lose a bit of there bounce,due to the electrifying Jaime/Alejandro relationship not being there as a launch pad.
Making this a full-on family affair, Brontis Jodorowsky slides the movie into a warped psychoanalysis world that would make Freud's head explode,as Brontis gives a superb performance as his dads dad.Given the hardest of rides possible by his dad, (with a scene involving his testicles V an electric cable being a real moment for the family album!) Brontis matches Jaime's blunt,brutal treatment towards his son,with an oddly quiet assertive manner,with Brontis showing loneliness in Jaime's eyes,as his assassination dreams turn to a fading memory.Not even being 10 years old when making the title, Jeremias Herskovits gives an extraordinary performance as Alejandro,with Herskoits keeping the character away from being sickly sweet,by showing Alejandro's tears of terror from the pain caused by his dad,with tears of joy from the Fantasy's that he is making,as Alejandro takes his feet off the dance floor of reality.