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A Mexican master leads a Christ figure and other disciples to a mountain of immortal wise men. The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism in The Holy Mountain is a spiritual quest for enlightenment pitting illusion against truth. The Alchemist (Jodorowsky) assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept’s 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.
Shot in France, England, Switzerland and the United States, this documentary covers director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre) and his 1974 Quixotic attempt to adapt the seminal sci-fi novel Dune into a feature film. After spending 2 years and millions of dollars, the massive undertaking eventually fell apart, but the artists Jodorowsky assembled for the legendary project continued to work together. This group of artists, or his “warriors” as Jodorowsky named them, went on to define modern sci-fi cinema with such films as Alien, Blade Runner, Star Wars and Total Recall.
After discovering a sacred stone in the mouth of a deer he just killed, Taibei, a young lonesome Tibetan cowboy, embarks on a long and difficult mission: to bring it back to the holy mountain of Buddha’s handprint. His journey turns sour as an obstinate woman, Joan, and a psychic yet dumb elf, Pu, soon decide to join him. Not to mention the two violent brothers on his tale, who are on a revenge quest.
The village of L’Espérance is perched between the mountains and the great river. Its inhabitants include young people – who don’t have much of a future – as well as many widows and old men. The village continues to be haunted by the tragic death of 13 miners. One day, a stranger arrives. The young man, at once charming and mysterious, has an immediate effect upon the village. The longer he stays in the village, the stronger blow the winds of desire. The village’s prevailing melancholy gives way to love and happiness. However, not everyone is pleased by the arrival of the stranger, who becomes more and more inquisitive about the tragedy of the old mine. What are his real motives? Is he really who he claims to be? As passion and doubt collide, the entire village is transformed by events which come crashing down like waves against the high cliffs.