The Dance Of Reality[Blu-ray]

Alejandro Jodorowsky returns after a twenty-something year absence in filmmaking with his fantastic autobiopic chronicling his early life in Tocopilla with a magical twist.In Jodorowsky's second to previous picture (1989's "Santa Sangre," one year prior to 1990's "The Rainbow Thief") Alejandro was chronicling all the dark energy around him in the world, exorcising it into a painfully depressing and yet beautiful film filled with horror and sadness-- "Santa Sangre" is a horror film in the truest sense of the word. But this time around, in "The Dance of Reality," Jodorowsky chooses to take a bad situation (his childhood, as he put it) and 'rewrite it,' because it's important to know that 'the past can be changed.'The film takes place in Tocopilla and tells two stories: One of Jaime Jodorowsky, Alejandro's abusive, atheistic and Stalinist father and his quest to assassinate Carlos Ibáñez-- where Jaime goes down a surprising spiritual path to salvation and the tale of young Alejandro, first at the hands of his terrible father, then on his own spiritual journey in the hands of his mystical mother, who speaks only in operatic vocals. What Jodo has done here is make the absolute best of a bad situation, he took all the anger and fear of his childhood and made it into something beautiful! It's a wonderful movie, and I'm tempted to say it's Jodorowsky's best to date, even over "El Topo."As always, the direction is amazing, everything is meticulously prepared yet has an apparently random take, the acting never seems wooden or stiff, but natural and flowing like water. The use of colors is dazzling, especially on Blu-Ray! The music and sound is unlike anything I've heard in any other recent film and for such seemingly small movie it produces big emotion, evoked through metaphoric storytelling blended with autobiographical points of view. I particularly liked how Alejandro Jodorowsky played himself guiding himself as a child, how he was like a ghost from the future, as all things, past, present and future are connected."The Dance of Reality" is a spiritual journey. It's the antithesis to the negativity and horror of "Santa Sangre," as well as the antithesis to the cold modernity of widespread atheism-- I was touched how anti-religious Jaime was only to find salvation in the hands of a kindly person which leads him down a path to redemption. How much truth there is to the real story I do not know, but it's not important, it's a movie that shows that no matter what religion you follow, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Taosim, Hinduism or Buddhist or whatever, they're all part of the same Universal Consciousness, all things are connected and Jodorowsky plays that idea beautifully.If you're a fan of Alejandro Jodorowsky's films, pick this one up immediately!

The Dance of Reality marks Jodorowsky's first feature film in 24 years following The Rainbow Thief's failure back in 1990. Fortunately for us, The Dance of Reality is nowhere near the artistic monotony of its predecessor, for which our brilliant director was severely pressured not to change or add anything to the original script. This time, we're back in the greatness that has sparked Jodorowsky's most creative achievements (El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre), this time, it is 100% pure Jodorowsky material, made on his own terms. Jodorowsky is once again sharing his life and soul with us, through a very impressive autobiographical portrait of his childhood and his life as a child living with his parents in Tocopilla, Chile.The movie is a continuous flow of beautiful, magical and sometimes surreal imagery that marked and defined Jodorowsky's most memorable moments as a child; learning about life, emotions, feelings, pain, and most of all, discipline and self-control. Jodorowsky's father, Jaime, is portrayed as a very severe man that doesn't show his emotions and wants his son to be just like him; a real man that works hard and doesn't show any signs of weakness. It seems that Jodorowsky went through a lot of hard times with his father when he was young. His mother, however, is portrayed as a very sweet lady that cares a lot for her son and encourages him to be himself without being ashamed. She understands, comforts, and listens to him, bringing about the proper parental balance for Alejandro, by giving him what his father is unable to, this is until he himself, leaves on his own journey away from his wife and son, in an attempt to rediscover himself.Jodorowsky's theatrical and circus influence is still very present; clowns, freaks and other bizarre characters are seen all throughout the movie, reminding us of his previous 1989 chef-d'oeuvre, Santa Sangre. The cinematography is simply perfect, nice quality scenes with plenty of colors, unforeseen special effects and very effective use of lights, all combined in another unique Jodorowsky rollercoaster. Fans of his previous work will not be disappointed because Mr. Jodorowsky hasn't lost his touch at all. With unique characters, great acting performances, unpredictable twists and magical imagery, Jodorowsky has just signed one of his most outstanding work to date. As another reviewer mentioned, this one is for everyone, any religion, any culture. Free your mind, forget about Hollywood movies and enjoy the ride.ENJOY!!!!

The movie starts out subtly: family tension in a small South American town. Then, like a nuclear weapon, explodes to touch upon the great philosophical issues of the 20th century: freedom of thought vs totalitarianism, affecting all levels of society. Excepting complete nihilists, no viewer with any philosophical or religious foundation of ethics can walk away after viewing this masterpiece of moral criticism on the 20th century without beginning a thorough examination of their own functional philosophical premises. BRAVO, Maestro Jodorowsky!!