The Holy Mountain

The Holy Mountain can’t be pigeonholed in a particular genre, and the same goes for Alejandro Jodorowsky, who's not only a filmmaker, but also a strip cartoonist, playwright and tarot reader. His story of a hippie-like Christ figure led by an alchemist (played by the director himself) on a quest for release from earthly passions and desires takes place in a surreal world in which futuristic stage sets flow seamlessly into glorious Mexican landscapes. The film is an avalanche of visual metaphors and symbols, with dozens of ludicrous, perverse or nightmarish characters and events passing by in what seems like an almost two-hour-long LSD trip. Birds fly out of a fresh bullet wound, a naked woman brings a machine to an "electronic orgasm," and costumed toads and chameleons do battle in a psychedelic circus—the scenes are as bizarre as they are intriguing. In the 1970s, the film was not a box-office success, but over the years it has acquired cult status.