A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery. He meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system. These seven, along with the protagonist, the guide and the guide’s assistant, divest themselves of their worldly goods and form a group of nine who will seek out the Holy Mountain, in order to displace the gods who live there and become immortal.

The Holy Mountain (1973)
  • Rating: (9,417 votes)
  • Runtime:114 minutes
  • Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Countries:Mexico, USA
  • Actors:
    The Alchemist (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
    Alejandro Jodorowsky
    The Thief
    Horacio Salinas
    The Written Woman (as Ramona Saunders)
    Zamira Saunders
    Fon
    Juan Ferrara
    Isla
    Adriana Page
    Klen
    Burt Kleiner
    Sel
    Valerie Jodorowsky
    Berg
    Nicky Nichols
    Axon (as Richard Rutowsky)
    Richard Rutowski
    Lut
    Luis Lomeli
  • Genres:Drama, Fantasy
  • Producers:
    Mick Gochanour
    producer (restored version)  
    Robin Klein
    producer (restored version)  
    Robert Taicher
    executive producer  
    Alejandro Jodorowsky
    producer (uncredited)  
    Allen Klein
    executive producer (uncredited)  
    Roberto Viskin
    producer (uncredited)  
  • Plot: A Christlike figure wanders through bizarre, grotesque scenarios filled with religious and sacrilegious imagery. He meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system. These seven, along with the protagonist, the guide and the guide's assistant, divest themselves of their worldly goods and form a group of nine who will seek out the Holy Mountain, in order to displace the gods who live there and become immortal. Written by Marty Cassady <martyc@vt.edu>
The Holy Mountain
  • User's comment:"You are excrement, but you can change into gold..." by fando

    This is not only, in my opinion, the best movie by maestro Alexandro Jodorowsky, not only the best movie ever made in Mexico or Latin America, or not only the best movie ever...I would say that this sort of work ranks along with the bible or the alcoran of the muslims. It is a proposal with not only an incalculable artistic achievement, but a movie that goes beyond that...A proposal about the human condition, and how to achieve perfection and reach holiness, just like the bible seems to do. As far as a movie, it synthesizes his Panic proposal of the artwork and the world like no other of this work, and can be interpreted in many ways. It's meaningful for everyone who sees it, and cannot be ignored, causing a deep conmotion in every spectator, and him/her to actively participate in the search. In a few words, it is a revelation. A revelation that some people doesn't want you to experience. I dont know how many of you know that the original copies of this movie and El Topo were destroyed by Allen Klein (at least that's how Jodorowsky put it). So, I guess that we the few people who have seen it are very lucky and must really asume that we are. I would synthesize the argument this way (this is what I roughly understood): All the icons that man has created reunite in his mortal form to achieve inmortality, and ultimately holiness. For that, they must become a group, and fuse with a "great self", loosing the concept that each one has of his own. The thief represents christianity, and the rest of the searchers represents a good of the greek pantheon each (Jodorowsky representing the sun, and Ramona Saunders the moon). All of them are thieves, 6 of them represent the most powerful people on the earth, and all of them know that they are mortal. This movie does not criticize any religion, and is not surrealistic either, nor an excersise in sadomasochism (we may be able to say that about "Fando & Lis", his first movie, because that one is an allegory of the couple relationship). Each symbol relates perfectly into a structure that leads you to the end, in which you must participate and assume your own humanity, forgetting about what you understand as "identity". Nevertheless, to come to this conclusion you have to had come across some reading before, and know Jodorowsky's work somehow. Its good that this movie is rated as that because it shows that it caused a reaction, which I believe was the main point, but misunderstood anyway, which has doomed its fate. I am sorry it has been discontinued, mainly because it was misunderstood. I started to become afraid that it would disappear from the face of the earth, but this is the kind of movie that does not become old with time. Its like wine, the more time it spends away, the better it will taste, hopefully. Younger generations seem to like it more than that when it was made. A true view ahead of its time, and perhaps our, because if not, we would be able to buy it at Wal Mart enjoy it without fearing that lawyers would come and get us. Perhaps it just wasnt meant for that.


  • Quotes: The Written Woman: Our bees make honey, but your flies make shit. The Alchemist: You are excrement. You can change yourself into gold. Drug Master: The Cross was a mushroom - and the mushroom was also the Tree of Good and Evil.
  • Also known as: La montaña sagrada (Argentina), La montaña sagrada (Mexico), La montaña sagrada (Peru), A Montanha Sagrada (Portugal - imdb display title), A szent hegy (Hungary - imdb display title), Holy Mountain (Greece - DVD title), La montagna sacra (Italy - imdb display title), La montagne sacrée (France), Montana Sacra - Der heilige Berg (West Germany), Swieta góra (Poland), The Sacred Mountain (International - reissue title, English title),

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