The Holy Mountain (Cultographies) by Alessandra Santos
I was so excited to
find this series by Cultographies about cult movies that I had to restrain
myself and had a hard time picking which book to buy… so many choices, but I had to select Alessandra Santos’s The Holy Mountain about one of my favorite movies of all time Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain. If you have never seen this movie, I’m not sure if there is a good
way to describe it except that it is probably the most surreal movie I’ve ever
seen and was created on considerable amounts of psychedelics. While there is a
narrative about a quest for enlightenment and taking some of the worst people
in the world and trying to transform them through a journey towards the holy
mountain—a kind of human alchemical experiment—the movie is probably better
known for its stunning visuals and outrageous stunts. The book does a good job
providing an overview of cult movies and how Jodorowski helped to invent the
midnight movie with his film El
Topo (another great Acid Western
quest movie). Jodorowski used this experience and notoriety he gained from El Topo to create a film even more absurd and surreal. However, he also had
more backing from artists like Lennon. The book also goes into the funding of
the film as well as how Jodorowski pulled together the creative team that
helped him make this film. I really enjoyed reading more about one of my
favorite films of all time, as well as the cultural and cinematic significance
of this work of art. At times, I wish there was more analysis of some of the
elements of the film, but to my knowledge, this is one of the only full length
books that examines this film. While the book does spend some time exploring
the nature of cult films and what constitutes a cult film, it was a helpful
through line to understand the nature of this film. I can’t wait to read more
of these books, and am hopeful that there will be a sale on some of them soon.
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