With the DVD release of El Topo (1970) and its successor, The Holy Mountain (1973), in 2006 and 2007, Alejandro Jodorowsky’s heady and often unsettling filmic visions were finally available to permeate the sheltered minds of a new generation. Although his first film Fando y Lis (1968) and later work Santa Sangre (1989) had been available to the public on VHS and DVD, they did not have the same intense cult following as El Topo and The Holy Mountain. With the reintroduction of Jodorowsky’s name and work into millennial pop culture, the time was right for him to return to the big screen with new stories to tell.

In 2013 Jodorowsky had the benefit of a double booking at the Cannes Film Festival, which featured the premiers of Jodorowsky’s Dune and The Dance of Reality. Jodorowsky’s Dune is a documentary directed by Frank Pavich that tells the story of “the greatest film never made,” and features interviews with Jodorowsky and other individuals involved in the pre-production stages of the sci-fi film interpretation. The Dance of Reality is based off Jodorowsky’s autobiography of the same title. It is interesting that both of these films share a relationship with books, contain elements of biography, and were released at the same time. I hardly consider myself an expert on this artist, but I have a hunch he had this whole sequence planned out in his head many years ago.

In assembling his cast and production team for Dune, Jodorowsky sought one specific quality – a warrior spirit. There are several instances when he refers to himself as a god (in the least egotistical way a person can), and even called the Dune project a creation of god. Therefore, anyone involved in the film had to be willing to make significant sacrifices to their minds, bodies, and spirits.

Concept illustration for Dune by Dan O’Bannon

Dan O’Bannon, the man tasked with special effects, had to commit himself to psychiatric treatment when the film never got picked up for production. It was during this dark time that he wrote the screenplay for Alien. Symbolic resurrection at its finest.

Character illustration for “Paul” by Jean Giraud aka Moebius

The person who most embodied this warrior spirit was Jodorowsky’s 10-year-old son Brontis, who was set to play the lead role of “Paul.” For two years Brontis trained every day for 5 hours a day in mixed martial arts to prepare for the physical and mental demands of the role. His preparations never came to fruition.

Alejandro and Brontis in El Topo; Brontis as “Jaime” and Jeremías as “Alejandro” in The Dance of Reality

It is apparent that Alejandro cultivated the warrior spirit in Brontis at an early age, considering he played the son of the main character (played by Alejandro) in El Topo and was shooting guns naked in the desert at 6 years old. His unorthodox introduction to film and the defeat of Dune did not hinder Brontis from pursuing a very full career in acting and directing for cinema and stage. He stars in The Dance of Reality, playing the role of his own grandfather, Jaime. His presence on screen is intense, showing that this man has fully become the warrior his father always wanted him to be. Brontis’ own son Jeremías plays Alejandro as a child, and Alejandro appears in the film as an angel-like being that consoles his young self in times of fear and confusion.

Three generations of the Jodorowsky clan acting out the harsh realities and epic fantasies that permeate their bloodlines is amazing to see play out on the movie screen, and was meant to be a cathartic and bonding exercise for all involved. It is important to note that Alejandro is a practitioner of psychomagic and psychogenealogy, and that The Dance of Reality is the cinematic manifestation of these beliefs. According to Alejandro’s biography , “Psychomagic aims to heal psychological wounds suffered in life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which practitioners of the therapy believe are passed down from generation to generation. Psychogenealogy includes the studying of the patient’s personality and family tree in order to best address their specific sources.” I encourage others to familiarize themselves with Alejandro’s biography because it provides insights to important themes in the film that may otherwise go unnoticed and will enhance one’s appreciation for the narrative.

Even though Jodorowsky’s Dune and The Dance of Reality are two completely different types of film, they maintain a dialogue with one another and I enjoyed picking up on the areas of overlap. The Dune documentary was a great primmer to The Dance of Reality, as it explains Jodorowsky’s approach to filmmaking and his current attitudes toward his past and future projects. The strongest connection between the two films is the god-like mentality Jodorowsky describes in the Dune documentary and how it flows throughout The Dance of Reality, particularly in the Father/Son/Holy Spirit trinity he creates with himself, his son, and his grandson. The notion that art imitates life is extremely potent in Alejandro’s world, as his successes and setbacks exemplify the cycle of creation, sacrifice, and rebirth.

-Hayley Richardson