The Holy Mountain (1973)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writer:

Alejandro Jodorowsky (written by)

Release Date:

21 August 1974 (West Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery...

Plot Keywords:

Holy Mountain | Mountain | Bizarre | Bathtub | Excrement

Cast

Alejandro Jodorowsky	...	The Alchemist (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
Horácio Salinas	...	The Thief (as Hector Salinas)
Zamira Saunders	...	The Written Woman (as Ramona Saunders)
Juan Ferrara	...	Fon
Adriana Page	...	Isla
Burt Kleiner	...	Klen
Valerie Jodorowsky	...	Sel
Nicky Nichols	...	Berg
Richard Rutowski	...	Axon (as Richard Rutowsky)
Luis Lomeli	...	Lut
Ana De Sade	...	The Prostitute
Chucho-Chucho	...	The Chimpanzee
Letícia Robles	...	Bald Woman 1 (as Leticia Robles)
Connie De La Mora	...	Bald Woman 2
David Kapralik	...	Tourist
Jacqueline Voltaire	...	Tourist Wife
Pablo Leder	...	Circus Barker
Bobby Cameron	...	Fon's Working Girl
Re Debris	...	Klen's Lover
Guadalupe Perullero	...	Berg's Wife
José Antonio Alcaraz	...	Bar Owner (as Jose Antonio Alcaraz)
Héctor Ortega	...	Drug Master (as Hector Ortega)
Robert Taicher	...	Poet
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Basilio González	...	Crippled man
Harry Cohn	...	Klen's Chauffeur (uncredited)
Manuel Dondé	...	Wanderer (uncredited)
Ramiro Chávez Gochicoa	...	Boy (uncredited)
Marcela López Rey	...	Prostitute (uncredited)
Jane Mitchell	...	Stripteaser (uncredited)
Marcela Ponzarelli	...	Woman at the church (uncredited)
David Silva	...	Fon's father (uncredited)

Directed by
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Writing credits
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(written by) (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Produced by
Mick Gochanour	....	producer
Mick Gochanour	....	restored version
Alejandro Jodorowsky	....	producer (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
Allen Klein	....	producer
Robert Taicher	....	executive producer
Roberto Viskin	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Don Cherry
Ronald Frangipane
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Cinematography by
Rafael Corkidi

Film Editing by
Federico Landeros

Costume Design by
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Nicky Nichols

Makeup Department
María Eugenia Luna	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Roger Rodewald	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rafael Villaseñor Kuri	....	assistant director

Art Department
David Antón	....	set constructor (as David Anton)
José Durán	....	set constructor (as Jose Duran)
Manuel Felguerez	....	painter
Manuel Felguerez	....	sculptor
Alain Glass	....	painter
Alain Glass	....	sculptor
Alejandro Jodorowsky	....	painter (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
Alejandro Jodorowsky	....	sculptor (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
Alejandro Jodorowsky	....	set designer
Antonio Neira	....	wax sculptor (as Antonio Neyra)
Luis Urias	....	painter
Luis Urias	....	sculptor

Sound Department
C. Robert Fine	....	sound mixer
Gonzalo Gavira	....	sound effects
Howard Lester	....	sound editor
Al Steckler	....	sound

Special Effects by
Marcelino Pacheco	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Harry Cohn	....	camera operator
Miguel Garzón	....	camera operator (as Miguel Garzon)

Editorial Department
Scot Olive	....	digital intermediate colorist (restoration)

Music Department
Brooks Auther	....	music recording engineer
Al Steckler	....	music supervisor
Henry West	....	music advisor

Other crew
Humberto Gurza	....	animal trainer
Miguel Gurza	....	animal trainer
Joanne Pottlitzer	....	translator
Pat Sole	....	voice supervisor
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler (uncredited)
Oscar Ichazo	....	spiritual advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Allen & Betty Klein and Company (ABKCO)
• Producciones Zohar

Distributors

• Pretty Pictures (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Allen & Betty Klein and Company (ABKCO)
• Amuse Soft (Amyuuzu Sofuto) Hanbai Inc. (Japan) (laserdisc) (VHS distributor)
• Amuse Video (Japan) (laserdisc) (VHS releaser)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• CVR Realvision (Italy) (VHS)
• Caméra One
• Nikkatsu Video Films K.K. (1988) (Japan) (VHS)
• Nikkatsu
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Raro Video (199?) (Italy) (VHS)
• Raro Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD) (cut)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set) (uncut)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (uncut)
• Ropponica (1988) (Japan) (VHS) (as Cine Ropponica K.K.)
• Rosebud Video (France) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Visual Corporation

Other Companies

• A&R Recording Studios  music recording
• I.F. Studios Inc.  titles
• Pacific Title  opticals
• Postworks New York  2K restoration and color correction (2006)
• Reeves Cinetel Inc.  sound recording

Also Known As:

La montaña sagrada (Mexico)
The Sacred Mountain (International: English title) (reissue title)

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Mexico | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 (re-rating, uncut) | UK:X (original rating, cut version) | France:-16 | Netherlands:18 | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | South Korea:18 | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM14 (2001) | New Zealand:R18 | USA:R | Hong Kong:III

Filming Locations:

Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico

Company:

Allen & Betty Klein and Company (ABKCO)

Trivia:

The Alchemist's shoes were inspired by those of Frankenstein's monster, having both heels and high platforms as well.

Quotes:

Drug Master: The Cross was a mushroom - and the mushroom was also the Tree of Good and Evil.

Movie Connections:

References Un chien andalou (1929)

Astonishingly beautiful, bloody and strange

Astonishingly beautiful, bloody and strange surrealist film. Roughly, about a spiritual quest for enlightenment, truth and immortality; but that doesn't begin to describe Jodorowsky's Fellini-like flood of imagery and symbolism. Jodorowsky himself plays "The Master", an occult adept who assembles a group of people representing the planets of our solar system (a Christ figure for Earth) to ascend the Holy Mountain and gain the secret of eternal life. The qualities of the individual planetary cultures are both based on, and distorted from, their classic meanings in astrology and alchemy - you really need to have some basic reading in occultism to follow this movie - and the stunning ending shot takes the theme of illusion vs. truth to a completely different plane.