Alejandro Jodorowsky, the "father of the midnight movie," is one of the best known surrealist filmmakers of the 20th century. In a five year period spanning from the late 1960s into the early 1970s, he released three films in a row that have been blowing minds for generations: Fando y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain. Now, all three of those cult classics are getting released in 4K in a new box set, along with Jodorowsky's most recent film, Psychomagic, A Healing Art. Get the details below.
I'm embarrassed to admit that I have never seen one of Jodorowsky's movies in full – I only know his work from the shreds I saw in Jodorowsky's Dune, the excellent 2013 documentary that details his absolutely bonkers plan for a sprawling, mind-expanding film adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel. (Denis Villeneuve is making a much more, shall we say, traditional version of Dune this year, which will supposedly be out this holiday season.) But this new Jodorowsky 4K box set looks like a great place to dive into and engage with his most famous works of art.
The director, who is 91 years old, personally supervised the color correction of these 4K restorations using the original 35mm elements, and after fifty years, he was finally able to convert El Topo to the 1:85:1 widescreen ratio he originally wanted it to be in, as an homage to Sergio Leone. (It's also presented in 1:33:1 aspect ratio as it was originally shown in 1970.)
Here's the official breakdown of everything in the new box set, which will be available on September 18, 2020.
A 78-page booklet with exclusive photos, new essays, original reviews, and interviews offer incredible detail, perspective, and insight into the films and mind of maestro Alejandro Jodorowsky.
ART CARDS
6 double-sided vintage lobby card reproductions from the original German releases, as well as six unique production photos from both El Topo and The Holy Mountain.
POSTER
An exclusive, 16×20-inch (403mmx510mm) double-sided color poster featuring two of Alejandro Jodorowsky's most revered and celebrated works: El Topo (1970) and The Holy Mountain (1973).
BLU-RAY PACKAGING (dual-sided)
All Blu-rays come in individual thin-line digipaks with reversible, color artwork in a high-quality slipcase.
FANDO Y LIS: Boasting some of his most disturbing images, Jodorowsky's first feature, Fando y Lis, is an extraordinarily ambitious and excessive adaptation of a controversial play by Fernando Arrabal, which tells of young Fando and his paraplegic sweetheart Lis's journey through a series of surreal scenarios to find the enchanted city of Tar.
New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
La Cravate, Jodorowsky's compellingly surreal 1957 adaptation of Thomas Mann's The Transposed Heads
La Constellation Jodorowsky, Louis Mouchet's feature-length documentary featuring interviews with Jean 'Moebius' Giraud and Peter Gabriel
"Jodorowsky Remembers Fando y Lis", a new interview filmed in Paris
Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio
Primary Language Spanish
English, Spanish and French subtitles
Image gallery
EL TOPO: Packed with vivid imagery, his most violent and notorious film sees the director play 'The Mole' of the title: a master-gunfighter journeys across a desert dreamscape with his young son (Brontis Jodorowsky) to duel with four sharp-shooting adversaries.
New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Jodorowsky Remembers El Topo, new interview filmed in Paris
Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
A Conversation with The Son of El Topo, a newly filmed, extensive interview with Brontis Jodorowsky who stars in El Topo
New 1:85:1 widescreen presentation approved by the director
The Father of Midnight Movies, an archival interview with Jodorowsky filmed in 2007
Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Image Gallery
Original Spanish soundtrack
English Dub Track
Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles
Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
El Topo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) CD
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN: The director himself plays The Alchemist, a guru who guides a troupe of pilgrims, each representing the planets in the solar system, on a magical quest to Lotus Island where they must ascend The Holy Mountain in search of spiritual enlightenment.
New 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative approved by Alejandro Jodorowsky
"Jodorowsky Remembers The Holy Mountain", a new interview filmed in Paris
Newly filmed introduction with Richard Peña, Professor of Film Studies at Columbia University
Pablo Leder: Jodorowsky's Right Hand Man, Jodorowsky's personal assistant, remembers acting in El Topo and The Holy Mountain and his time spent with the director
"The A to Z of The Holy Mountain", a new video essay by writer Ben Cobb
Deleted Scenes with commentary by Jodorowsky
"The Tarot", a short film in which Jodorowsky explains the secrets of the cards
Audio commentary by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Image Gallery
Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed mono 1.0 LPCM audio and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Newly translated English, Spanish and French subtitles
The Holy Mountain Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD
PSYCHOMAGIC, A HEALING ART: Jodorowsky's newest film explores the director's therapeutic work, showing by means of real acts, what Psychomagic is: its principle, how it is practiced, and how it applied in life. In the film, Jodorowsky works directly with real, suffering people who are eager to solve their problems through the use of this radical and transformative mode of therapy.
Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation
Uncompressed 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English, Spanish and French subtitles
Downloadable extras, Interviews plus digital Booklet.
