The Holy Mountain
Alejandro Jodorowsky, Mexico-USA, 1973, 114 min

 

The film is based on « Ascent of Mount Carmel » by St. John of the Cross and Mount Analogue by Rene Daumal, a student of G.I. Gurdjieff. In particular, much of Jodorowsky’s visually psychedelic story follows the metaphysical thrust of Mount Analogue such as the climb to the Alchemist, the assembly of individuals with specific skills, the discovery of the mountain that unites Heaven and Earth « that cannot not exist » and symbolic challenges along the mountain ascent. Daumal died before finishing his allegorical novel, and Jodorowsky’s improvised ending provides a clever way of completing the Work (symbolic and otherwise.) – WIKI

 

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Hommage à l’ensemble de l’oeuvre d’Alexandro Jodorowsky
Du 29 mars au 2 avril 2011 (Montréal)
Informations

La Santa Muerte
Eva Aridjis, Mexico & USA, 2007, 84 min

 
Trailer for the documentary Saint Death (La Santa Muerte), directed and produced by Eva Aridjis, narrated by Gael García Bernal, distributed by Seventh Art Releasing.
 

 

In Mexico there is a cult that is rapidly growing – the cult of Saint Death. This female grim reaper, considered a saint by followers but Satanic by the Catholic Church, is worshipped by people whose lives are filled with danger and/or violence – criminals, gang members, transvestites, sick people, drug addicts, and families living in rough neighborhoods. « La Santa Muerte » examines the origins of the cult and takes us on a tour of the altars, jails, and neighborhoods in Mexico where the saint’s most devoted followers can be found.

 

lasantamuertefilm.com

 

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March 7, 2011 on Al Jazeera English:

As Mexico’s drug-related violence continues, some are finding comfort in spirituality. It is a mainly Catholic nation, but as Al Jazeera’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City, many are turning to religious figures rooted in Mexico’s indigenous past. One alternative is the saint of death, also known as Santa Muerte.

Orphée
Jean Cocteau, France, 1950, 95 min

Set in contemporary Paris, the movie is a variation of the classic Greek myth of Orpheus. At the Café des Poètes, a brawl is staged by acolytes of the Princess (Casares) and the young poet Cègeste (Edouard Dermithe), a rival of Orpheus, is killed. Cègeste’s body is taken to the Princess’s car by her associates, and Orpheus (Marais) is asked to accompany them as a witness. They drive to a chateau (the landscape through the car windows are presented in negative) accompanied by abstract poetry on the radio. This takes the form of seemingly meaningless messages, like those broadcast to the French Resistance from London during the Occupation.

Orpheus becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). Heurtebise (Périer), her chauffeur, entertains analogous unrequited love for Orpheus’s wife Eurydice (Marie Déa). They fall in love. Eurydice is killed by the Princess’s henchmen and Orpheus goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orpheus back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice, but he cannot look at her or she will die. (This diverges from the common classical account found in the Roman versions of the myth by Ovid and Virgil, where Eurydice is lost forever.) They believe it to have been a dream, Eurydice is revealed to be alive, and expecting a child. – WIKI

Faut-il se couper l’oreille?
Jacques Giraldeau, Canada, 1970, 27 min 48 s

 

Téléfilm se questionnant sur les arts plastiques au Québec ainsi que sur le rôle de l’artiste dans la société actuelle. Peintres, sculpteurs, critiques d’art, directeurs de musées et de galeries, esthéticiens industriels reconnaissent qu’un fossé les sépare du peuple, mais croient qu’un jour, l’art pourra sortir de son isolement et envahir la place publique.

21-87
Arthur Lipsett, Canada, 1964, 9 min 40 s

This short film from Arthur Lipsett is an abstract succession of unrelated views of the passing crowd. A commentary on a machine-dominated society, it is often cited as an influence on George Lucas’s Star Wars and his conceptualization of « The Force. »

Commentaire acerbe sur l’ère de l’homme dominé par la machine: l’homme blasé, désintéressé de tout; l’homme qui n’attend plus que sa chance de tirer son numéro du lot. Le film est une succession de perspectives décousues sur une foule en mouvement.