A friend brought over The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky. I really can't describe it beyond saying it is hyper-surreal, sacrilegious, graphic and fairly repulsive in parts, and on the whole soul disturbing. It's full to brim with symbols from various mystical systems (Christianity, tarot, etc.) in strange scene after strange scene, all loosely tied together by a figure on a spiritual quest. This sort of thing may have been common back in the sixties and seventies, but it's alien and quite fresh to me. I followed up on the auteur behind it and he is as colorful and bizarre as the film. Jodorowsky is a Chilean of Ukrainian descent, was run out of Mexico for heretical film-making, and is now a comic book artist of some renown in France. I ended up ordering some of his graphic novels and the box set of his other films. I'm sure I'll have to post once again after seeing those.
You should see this, if only because someone actually was able to pull it off. But if possible you should do it at some point when you are at least marginally curious and informed about mysticism. And why should you ever be? Well I came across a related quote today post which seems as good a reason as any:
