The holy mountain

145 Pages·2017·3.438 MB·English

by  Santos, Alessandra

THE HOLY
MOUNTAIN
Alessandra Santos
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C U L T O G R A P H I E S
CULTOGRAPHIES is a list of individual studies devoted to
the analysis of cult film. The series provides a comprehensive
introduction to those films which have attained the coveted status of
a cult classic, focusing on their particular appeal, the ways in which
they have been conceived, constructed and received, and their place
in the broader popular cultural landscape.
OTHER PUBLISHED TITLES IN THE CULTOGRAPHIES SERIES:
THE ROCKY HORROR BAD TASTE
PICTURE SHOW Jim Barratt
Jeffrey Weinstock
QUADROPHENIA
DONNIE DARKO Stephen Glynn
Geoff King
FASTER, PUSSYCAT!
THIS IS SPINAL TAP KILL! KILL!
Ethan de Seife Dean DeFino
SUPERSTAR: FRANKENSTEIN
THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY Robert Horton
Glyn Davis
THEY LIVE
D. Harlan Wilson
BRING ME THE HEAD
OF ALFREDO GARCIA MS. 45
Ian Cooper Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
THE EVIL DEAD DEEP RED
Kate Egan Alexia Kannas
BLADE RUNNER STRANGER THAN PARADISE
Matt Hills Jamie Sexton
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
Alessandra Santos
WALLFLOWER PRESS
LONDON & NEW YORK
A Wallflower Book
Published by
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York • Chichester, West Sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
A complete CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN 978-0-231-18231-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-231-85108-4 (e-book)
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent
and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Series and cover design by Elsa Mathern
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction: ‘But is this life reality?
No. It’s a film.’ The Holy Mountain and Me 1
1 Enlightenment for Sale: Production,
Promotion, Initial Reception 17
2 The Secret of Immortality: Afterlife 39
3 Sacred Excrement: Reading The Holy
Mountain 59
4 ‘Real life awaits us!’: Placing The Holy
Mountain 104
Notes 115
Bibliography 120
Index 129
v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Alejandro Jodorowsky for his artistic vision, and for
keeping me humble. He has tweeted: ‘Scholars hoard words
about words, hoping to one day have an idea’; and ‘schol-
ars, with immense pride, live collecting and exhibiting keys
to doors that do not exist’. Here it is to yet another imaginary
door; just maybe my ideas are behind it.
My heartfelt gratitude to Ernest Mathijs for the opportu-
nity and constant support, to Jamie Sexton for his helpful
comments, and to Yoram Allon, Commissioning Editor at
Wallflower Press, for his patience and great guidance.
Thanks to all the Wallflower Press team. Sincere thanks to
Ralph Sarkonak for his professional support; Ross Swanson
for invaluable research assistance; Hannah Hayes for proof-
reading help; Fuyubi Nakamura for help with Japanese
sources; Andrea Chignolli for the film’s script images; and
to the University of British Columbia Hampton Research
Grant for funding. Last but not least, big thanks to my friends
for sharing their thoughts and for the encouragement. And
thanks to all The Holy Mountain’s fans in the world who keep
the dream alive.
vii

INTRODUCTION
(cid:7)(cid:58)(cid:77)(cid:76)(cid:3)(cid:65)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:76)(cid:64)(cid:65)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:62)(cid:61)(cid:3)(cid:74)(cid:61)(cid:57)(cid:68)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:55)(cid:3)(cid:70)(cid:71)(cid:38)(cid:3)(cid:65)(cid:76)(cid:8)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:57)(cid:3)(cid:62)(cid:65)(cid:68)(cid:69)(cid:38)(cid:8)(cid:3)
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN(cid:3)(cid:57)(cid:70)(cid:60)(cid:3)(cid:69)(cid:61)
‘God is a concept by which we measure our pain … the
dream is over.’
– John Lennon, ‘God’ (1970)

‘Nothing in your experience or your education can have
prepared you for this film’, claims the narrator of The Holy
Mountain’s official trailer, supposedly in the words of film
and music critic Jules Siegel (see Smalley 2011).1 With this
bombastic, even sensationalist claim, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s
The Holy Mountain (1973) is presented as an innovative,
original film that will challenge the public’s pre-conceptions.
The disclaimer is a provocation, meant as an invitation to
entice the curious, but also as a liability warning of the film’s
outlandish imagery and text. Considering the revolutionary,
dissident cultural moment in history when this film was made
and the industry that Jodorowsky was provoking (Hollywood),
the claim that nothing could have prepared the public for The
Holy Mountain may not seem so outrageous after all.
1