Montana Sacra - The sacred mountain

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Movie
German title Montana Sacra - The Holy Mountain
Original title La Montaña sagrada / The Holy Mountain
Country of production Mexico / USA
original language English / Spanish
Publishing year 1973
length 114 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director Alejandro Jodorowsky
script Alejandro Jodorowsky
production Alejandro Jodorowsky
Allen Klein
Robert Taicher
Roberto Viskin
music Don Cherry
Ronald Fangipane
Alejandro Jodorowsky
camera Rafael Corkidi
cut Alejandro Jodorowsky
Federico Landeros
occupation

Montana Sacra - Der Heilige Berg (English original title: The Holy Mountain ; Spanish original title: La Montaña sagrada ; alternative title: The Sacred Mountain ) is a 1973 film by the Chilean director , actor and author Alejandro Jodorowsky .

content

The film is about a nameless thief who lives in a world marked by violence and the perversion of religion. Some men disguised as Roman legionaries who make a living from the sale of devotional items make him drunk and then make a cast of his body, which they use to make life-size figures of Christ crucified . When the thief wakes up and realizes what has been done to him, he becomes angry and destroys all the figures. He only leaves one unharmed and wanders through the city with her. He tries to set it up in a dilapidated church, but the priest doesn't want to know about it. Only one prostitute is impressed by the thief's futile efforts and she falls in love with him.

The thief gives up his plan and comes to a mysterious high tower, which is inhabited by an alchemist . Using a rope, he lets the assembled crowd drop a few pieces of gold . Lured by it, the thief hangs on the rope and climbs the tower. There he meets the alchemist, whom he initially attacks; but then he is ready to learn from him. The alchemist first demonstrates his skills by turning the thief's excrement into gold. He also wants to transform the thief in the spiritual sense and so begins a mystical initiation ritual .

When it is over, he is introduced to seven future companions who were all thieves, albeit on a much higher level. Fon earns his living with people's addiction to beauty and eroticism. Isla is an arms manufacturer. Klen produces art as a short-lived, mass-produced item. Sel makes toys that prepare children for future wars. Axon commanded an army and secured the loyalty of his subordinates through castration . Berg is a finance minister who wants to rehabilitate the state budget through mass killings. Lut is an architect who wants to reduce personal living space to a bare bed.

Now the alchemist reveals to the group the purpose of their meeting: he wants to go with them in search of the Holy Mountain , on the summit of which nine wise men are to be enthroned, who hold the secret of immortality. In order to come into possession of this secret, however, each of the seekers must first give up his own ego completely until the group only has a single, common consciousness. After a joint journey full of privation, this finally succeeds. The group is now ready to set sail and head to Lotus Island, where the Holy Mountain is located.

There the seekers are initially expected by false enlightened ones and temptations. When they leave this behind undeterred, everyone has to deal with psychological torment. Nevertheless, they are getting closer and closer to the summit of the Holy Mountain. Just before they reach their destination, the alchemist reveals to the thief that the prostitute secretly followed the group. The thief should now end the search and instead turn back with her. The other companions, on the other hand, reach the summit and actually find a round table at which nine veiled figures sit. Here, however, something completely unexpected happens: eight of the characters are just puppets and the ninth person is Jodorowsky himself, who no longer acts as a fictional alchemist, but as a real director. At his instruction, the camera is pulled back and the film set becomes visible. Jodorowsky finally ends the fiction with the statement that enlightenment cannot be found on a holy mountain, but only in one's own self.

background

  • Three years before Montana Sacra , Jodorowsky shot the western El Topo , which quickly became a cult film in the United States. John Lennon was so enthusiastic about the work that he was able to convince former Beatles manager Allen Klein to fund Jodorowsky's next film.
  • The production cost was originally set at $ 1.5 million. This would have made Montana Sacra the most expensive Mexican film production to date. However, the actual costs were only around half.
  • Before shooting began, Jodorowsky spent a week without sleep under the direction of a Zen master and a month in company with the actors.
  • George Harrison was originally supposed to play the role of thief . However, he canceled because he did not want to shoot nude scenes.
  • In 2005 Jodorowsky slipped back into the role of the alchemist and performed the wedding of Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese as such .

Reviews

“Jodorowsky's 'Holy Mountain' is an overwhelming, mystical work full of cynicism and extravagant imagery. Illustrated, phantasmagoric imagination and drug-influenced creativity merge into a grotesque circus full of exquisite curiosities and religious allusions. "

- Mitternachtskino.de

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Review of Montana Sacra ( Memento from March 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on Mitternachtskino.de (as of January 15, 2009)