The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 21, 2020

Note: This version of this film is available as part of The Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection.

Some pundits along the way have said that there’s a very fine line between being a visionary and being a madman, and it may be at least arguable that no contemporary filmmaker has blurred that line so vigorously (and most likely intentionally) as has Alejandro Jodorowsky. Just listing some of Jodorowsky’s other activities in addition to his filmmaking may give some indication of both of the characteristics listed above, at least in terms of how the combination of them all being done by one person might be perceived by outsiders as indicating both visionary and mad aspects. Jodorowsky at various points in his long life (as of the writing of this review, he’s still with us at the venerable age of 91) has been a puppeteer, a composer, a mime, a writer of comics, a therapist and a self- described mystic with a penchant for magical realist and/or surrealist thinking. Jodorowky first came to at least some prominence on the global cinema scene with El Topo in 1970, though Fando y Lis, also included in this set, preceded it by two years, causing more than a bit of a scandal upon its release, including being rather quickly banned in Mexico after its debut, something that probably kept it from greater renown at the time. El Topo at least managed to screen internationally, including in New York City, where it caught the attention of none other than John Lennon, who convinced Apple executive Allen Klein to fund further Jodorowsky efforts. This set also aggregates two other films from Jodorowsky, including 1973’s The Holy Mountain (one result of Klein's financing efforts), which, like El Topo, has had a previous release on Blu-ray (more about the previous releases in the appropriate individual reviews of those titles). Bookending the never before released on Blu-ray Fando y Lis, the first feature length film from Jodorowsky, is Psychomagic, A Healing Art, Jodorowsky’s most recent effort from 2019.

Note: Those who pay attention to things like menu designs and fonts utilized, or even to the look of the copyright warnings at disc boot up may instantly recognize how these discs look like Arrow releases, with an identical boot up that is only different from an Arrow release in that it's missing the Arrow masthead. That said, in fact Arrow's own masthead does show up here on occasion with regard to some of the supplemental material. Arrow's UK division has their own The Alejandro Jodorowsky Collection Blu-ray release which came out about a month or so ago. That release looks like it has Region B locked discs (I haven't received any screeners yet, and so can't confirm), but otherwise the releases seem to be identical.

The Holy Mountain is one of two films in this set which has had a previous release on Blu-ray, and for those interested in a plot recap I recommend reading Casey Broadwater's The Holy Mountain Blu-ray review of the version put out by Starz / Anchor Bay in 2011. Casey's review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons and differences between the slate of supplements.

The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Holy Mountain is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of abkco with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

The Holy Mountain was resetored in 4K resolution and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with 5.1, stereo and mono audio*. The original 35mm 2-perf Techniscope camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at OCN Digital Labs, CT. The film was graded and restored at Silver Salt Restoration, London. The audio mixes were remastered from the original optical negatives at Deluxe Audio Services, Hollywood. Review screenings for approval were carried out at Eclair Labs, Paris.

Casey gave very decent if not overwhelming marks to the previous release on Blu-ray, but my hunch is even those who liked the Starz / Anchor Bay release are going to find this version an improvement on any number of levels. Both Marty and Casey noted some filtering in evidence on the previous Blu-ray releases they reviewed, and while there's a noticeable grain field on display here though, as I mentioned in the El Topo Blu-ray review, it can tend to ebb and flow a bit at times. Grain tends to resolve naturally for the most part, but there are a few isolated moments that struck me as a bit wonky or even "digital" looking, as in the white section of the "eye room" (see screenshot 2) and some other examples mentioned below. This is a very small qualm, however, in what is overall a nicely organic appearance that also supports Jodorowsky's hallucinogenic palette and weird textures and patterns. Like abkco's new El Topo, this release struck me as a bit darker than the prior release of The Holy Mountain, something that I think tends to support the perception of a more vividly suffused palette. Some of the effects work in particular is relatively soft when compared to the bulk of the presentation, and, as Casey mentioned in his review of the prior release, there are isolated moments where clarity can falter, including a brief section at circa 17:58 and a longer sequence starting at around 48:53, which suffer from a pretty noisy looking grain field and diminished detail levels.

*There are not three audio tracks on this disc. The LPCM 2.0 track recreates the film's original mono audio.

The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Holy Mountain features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks. The surround track nicely opens up the score in particular, giving some pronounced energy to the low end in particular that is especially noticeable in some of the drone effects that are employed. The film's sound design is quite busy, but actual surround activity tends to be limited to discrete placement of individual ambient environmental effects as well as the aforementioned widening of the score. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout.

The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky


• Jodorowky Remembers The Holy Mountain (1080p; 14:07) features a 2019 interview with Jodorowsky. This is in English, but comes with optional subtitles.


• An Introduction to The Holy Mountain by Richard Peña (1080p; 10:51) features the Professor of Film Studies from Columbia university in a good overview, including some of the conflict with Allen Klein that hobbled Jodorowsky's film career.


• Pablo Leder: Jodorowky's Right Hand Man (1080p; 20:25) features Jodorowsky's personal assistant reminiscing about acting in El Topo and The Holy Mountain as well as his relationship with Jodorowsky. In Spanish with English subtitles.


• The A to Z of The Holy Mountain (1080p; 28:38) is a video essay by Ben Cobb, where Cobb goes through the alphabet, assigning different meanings to each of the letters in terms of relationships to the film, e.g., "A is for Arseholes and Alchemy".


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 5:39) feature commentary by Jodorowsky.


• Outtakes (1080p; 25:04) features what is advertised as newly discovered material culled from archival elements. These are silent.


• The Tarot (1080p; 7:52) is a short with Jodorowky discussing the engimatic precursor to our contemporary decks of cards. In Spanish with English subtitles.


• Original Trailer (1080p; 2:41)


• Animated Script Gallery (1080p; 4:06)


• Image Galleries

  Production Stills (1080p)

  
  

  Posters (1080p)

  
  

  Set Panels (1080p)

  
  

  Awards (1080p)

  
  

  Papers and Ephemera (1080p)

• Soundtrack CD

The Holy Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Part of my misspent youth was taking several years researching and then beginning to write an eventually abandoned Masters Thesis on some similarities between the works of William Butler Yeats and Aleister Crowley, who some readers may know were "nemeses" of a sort throughout their lives. Both Yeats and Crowley were members of a "magical" fraternity called The Golden Dawn, and going down that particular rabbit hole in my research phase ultimately introduced me to a whole host (no church pun intended) of so-called occult material, including the Tarot (which Crowley famously redesigned) and even the work of Gurdjieff, which is so conspicuously referred to by Jodorowsky in The Holy Mountain. As such, this "little" piece of cinematic arcana may frankly be more my cup of tea than for the public at large, but I'd still encourage the more adventurous reader to check this film out, though that said, newcomers need to be prepared for some shocking and potentially even offensive imagery. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary package exceptional. Highly recommended.