Review of The Holy Mountain (1973) by Richmond C — 25 Feb 2008

My name is Richmond, my planet is Mars.

This is the best surrealist movie I've ever seen. Jadorowsky fills the screen with captivating imagery, sometimes beautiful, sometimes hideous, but always fascinating. What really sets Jadorowsky apart though, is that his images aren't random, they are exactingly constructed. He understands the importance of culture and ritual. The entire movie is a sequence of rituals and even if you don't understand the significance of what is going on, you get the feeling that the practitioners do, and if you pay enough attention, you will too. This gives the movie the weight it needs to be meaningful, rather than incomprehensible. This film really took me on a journey, an exausting one, but I honestly felt like I'd grown a tiny bit by the end of it.