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Santa Sangre (1989) by Alejandro Jodorowsky
#1
I saw this last century before I knew what a Jodorowsky was, and it seemed time for a revisit.  Fortunately, the library has a two-disk set.

Wow.  I'd forgotten so much of it and missed so many things.  So many vivid characters and over-the-top scenes -- and the childhood traumas!  Very emotional.  Visceral.  Just a staggering achievement.  I'd been under the mistaken impression that this was the first of Jodorowsky's big three, but actually it was the last.  The ordering is El Topo (1970), Holy Mountain (1973), and Santa Sangre (1989).  The big sinkhole before Santa Sangre is the whole Dune debacle and fallout  -- and oh how watching this made me feel the loss of that failed project all the more.

The second disc is interviews with Alejandro and cast members about the making of Santa Sangre, accompanied by relevant footage.  I found it largely mesmerizing.  Alejandro was too old to play a key role in this film (unlike in El Topo and Magic Mountain), so he sought other actors.  There was pressure on him to cast big-name actors, but he felt that would detract from the film (I concur).  So instead, after a lot of screen tests and searching, he ended up casting his son, and his other son, and another son, and still another son -- and it works.  What an incredibly talented family.  And the mind games he played with them on set, to draw them out, sometimes rather cruel.  But they all laugh about it now, except one who died shortly after filming (Alejandro cannot watch the movie these days, because it's too painful seeing that son's performance).

Alejandro is a crazy genius.  He reminds me a lot of Dali.  He's such a bull-shitter, says things that are preposterous.  But then you start to realize there's a kernel of truth to what he says -- and maybe more truth than you really want to accept.

I look at a lot of new trailers on youtube.  It's only a slight exaggeration to say they all look the same.  One minute of Santa Sangre has more to offer than any one of those films in its entirety.

I want Alejandro's Doom, dammit.  I want to be catapulted into the alternate reality where it got made.
I'm nobody's pony.
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#2
ED and I went through a period when we were both avidly watching Jodorowsky films.  I don't remember them well, just a few scattered scenes from all of the aforementioned films.  I'm not sure I want to revisit those now.  They were really visceral back then.  But you've made me curious about how they have held up.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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#3
DM, one more draw for a possible revisit is the soundtrack.
While Alejandro did the music for his first two big movies, for this one he went to Simon Boswell in London and said, "Here's the print; compose some music for it."  They'd negotiated the deal beforehand, of course, but what surprised Simon was that Alejandro wasn't like most directors, hovering over his shoulder and wanting to tweak everything he did.  It was just, Here, give it music.

Simon Boswell was best known at that time for composing music for some of Dario Argento's giallos, which I've always been impressed by.  As for the Santa Sangre soundtrack he created, it's very diverse, honoring traditional Mexican music and of course circus music, but also soaring into giallo territory for the emotionally charged scenes.

I had forgotten how strong the soundtrack was, and now I know why it's so good.
I'm nobody's pony.
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