"The apocalypse is now!"

ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY
(Film director. b. 1929)

"The apocalypse is now! Americans know this, that the only hope is the flying saucers. Do you know how I see the world? Like a person who is dying. It's a worm who is dying to make a butterfly. We must not stop the worm from dying, we must help the worm to die to help the butterfly to be born. We need to dance with death. This world is dying, but very well. We will make a big, big enormous butterfly. You and I will be the first movements in the wings of the butterfly because we are speaking like this." ~ ~ Alejandro Jodorowsky

"The revered underground film-maker Alejandro Jodorowsky once stated, "I ask of cinema what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs." Born in 1930 in Iquique, Chile, Jodorowsky had an enigmatic childhood before travelling to Paris in 1953 to study mime with Marcel Marceau. During the 1960s, Jodorowsky experimented with mimes and cartooning (his 'Fabulas Panicas Weekly' comic strip enjoyed a long run in Mexico), staging avant-garde performance art such as 'Sacramental Melodrama' (1964), a four hour play which combined religious themes and violence (later to become Jodorowsky themes). Together with French surrealists Fernando Arrabal and Roland Topor, he formed the 'Theater of Panic' (1962) which staged happenings and caused general mayhem.
In 1968, Jodorowsky made his directorial debut with the film 'Fando Y Lis', which reflected the psychological dislocation and socio-political upheaval enveloping Mexico.
However, it was 'El Topo' (1971) which catapulted Jodorowsky to cult status. Hailed by John Lennon as a masterpiece, 'El Topo' revealed Jodorowsky to be the cinematic heir to Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel. The dreamlike imagery of 'El Topo' also suggested Jodorowsky's proximity to avant-garde film-makers such as Kenneth Anger and Maya Deren (it can be best described as a 'psychedelic western'). Jodorowsky wrote the script and soundtrack, handled direction, and starred in 'El Topo', adding to his notoriety.
His followup 'The Holy Mountain' (1974) continued an uncompromising exploration of primal atavisms and deeply spiritual imagery, often transgressive. Hollywood beckoned."

Here's the origianl trailor for The Holy Mountain
Please fasten your seatbelts...

"And then the hyperbolic weirdness erupted. There are many conflicting stories about Jodorowsky's ill-fated attempts to bring Frank Herbert's novel 'Dune' (1965) to the screen, but the cast of collaborators was incredible. Pink Floyd offered to write the score at the peak of their creativity. Salvador Dali, Gloria Swanson, and Orson Welles were cast. Dan O'Bannon was hired to supervize special effects; illustrator Chris Foss to design spacecraft; H.R. Giger to design the world of Geidi Prime and the Harkonnens; artist Jean 'Moebius' Giraud drew thousands of sketches. The project eventually collapsed in 1977, subsequently being passed onto Ridley Scott, and then to David Lynch, whose film (1983) was panned by audience and critics alike. Could Jodorowsky - master of profound mythological themes - have outdone George Lucas?
Jodorowsky's next film 'TUSK' (1978) languished in obscurity, and he spent six years developing the scenario for what eventually became 'Santa Sangre' (1989), a fiercely personal exploration of family dynamics, murder, and obsession. Critically well-received, 'Santa Sangre' led to a resurgence of interest in Jodorowsky's ouvre.
'The Rainbow Thief' (1990) is probably the most commercial project that Jodorowsky has done, although he hated working with Peter O'Toole. 'Viaje a Tul™n' (1994) and 'Abelcaim' (1999) show a welcome return to form. Jodorowsky has also published many novels and comic books, and his Vision continues to influence many artists who today explore the psyche's inner cartography, most notably Marilyn Manson. Love or loathe him, Jodorowsky is truly Underground Cinema's enigmatic 'lost' auteur." - Hot Wired