Hēi Tài Yáng (Men Behind the Sun) (1988)

(Also known as Man Behind the Sun)

I was planning on making this review a question of the moral fabric that separates us from the wild animals in conjunction with the director's overall intentions behind making this film and how I actually see it.

Seeing this as the wrong way to go and not wanting to just bash this movie as propaganda or an exploitation of atrocious acts of man (because that is clearly an option I have) but it claims to be more than this. I myself don't see it.

The only thing going for this film in terms of not being something that...............


Alright, this movie is boring and I don't see what all the fuss is about. For someone who claims to not be lambasting the Japanese, director T.F. Mous (born Mou Tun Fei) does a good job portraying the Japanese as one of three things-- insane (laughing insane), drunk, or a blind follower.

Now, I don't deny the fact that the people behind Unit 731 were fucking crazy, but I don't think they went around laughing like some kind of homicidal nutcase (clearly they were) or dancing while disposing of body parts. These certain aspects are intended to invoke anger in the audience (clearly a tool of the propaganda film genre--something Mous has experience in) and the blood on the flag is practically the nail in the coffin, signifying the blood will forever tarnish the nation of Japan--thus contradicting the statement made in the beginning of the film "Friendships are friendships; history is history".

It would only be so if you wouldn't shove so much hate (albeit rightfully deserved) down the throats of everyone and not doing any justice. For a movie claiming to be an educational tool used to shed light on events that most people have never heard about, but to be quite honest with you I didn't learn a damn thing watching this movie until the credits began to roll and explained the aftermath--The Americans granted the man behind the whole thing (a Lieutenant General Shiro Ishii) full immunity from war crimes and made him hand his work over to them.

To be used in the Korean War....By Ishii himself.



Frankly, I cannot recommend anyone to watch this movie. I cannot truly understand why this movie is considered what it is (the wikipedia page for Unit 731 is more frightening than this movie). I really wish people would open their eyes and realize this movie is nothing more than blood and gore dancing behind facts and the loss of innocent lives.

There was more against the actual people (making them laugh and applaud like madmen while throwing ceramic pots in the air) than what they did to innocent people with them (shown briefly in an easily forgettable scene of gore and missing limbs). This is why this is not educational or informative, but rather exploitation and propaganda (and a pale example of it at that).

Displaying these people, not as stone cold as they were remembered to be but as some kind of laughing imbeciles is making them look almost like cartoon characters and not to be taken any more serious than "wow, that guy is fucking weird and look at him pull that ladies armpit hairs" instead of "wow, that guy is a stone cold killer and look at him with his granite face killing those people. That fucker has no heart". These people were not laughing as they killed people (well, this could be argued) and the only reason they are in this film is to easily invoke anger and hatred--much like propaganda is suppose to. Do you honestly think that the man who called people fucking pieces of wood was lauging as he did it?

If you wanted to make it educational and have people learn then perhaps you should have done it like everyone else--a fucking documentary. I always think hearing it from people that were there is far more daunting than having someone recreate it all.

The director always makes it a point in his interviews to bring up the time he showed the film to a college class in Tokyo where no one believed Japan would do something like this and that it was all made up, but just to have actual people from Unit 731 stand up and tell them that it really did happen. Do you see what happened there? People with actual experience standing and talking about the crimes they committed. This my friends is how you get a point across, you shove actual facts and first hand experiences in their faces and not some rallying cry to the people who have been wronged.

This movie is suppose to shock and disgust and I really do feel that it is using the actual facts as some kind of facade to hide behind. It isn't doing the thousands of people who died any justice, but rather using their deaths as some kind of......well exploitation actually. This film is exploiting the loss of life in order to instill this hate for another country and it will kill actual animals and show an actual autopsy of a little boy to get the message through to the people--whatever the hell that is.

I really went into watching this hoping to get some kind of understanding as to why it happened and what exactly they did, but all I got was a romp through the shit fields and the only thing this film invoked from me is a true hatred for everyone behind this movie.

Fuck this stupid film. If you really want to learn about such a tragic time in history then do not watch this piece of crap (or the four hour long Philosophy of a Knife--something I almost did) and pick up a book, read for Christ's sake, and I honestly mean this. Don't watch this and think you have a firm grasp on what happened all those years ago. These events are something that just can't be recreated and have it match.

This falls into the same rickety boat as the Holocaust in that I believe they can't be done any justice in cinema and even making a movie on it is clearly exploiting the loss of life in order to make money or "prove some point" and it just isn't right, and to have this shitty film in my concious for the rest of my days and to have it being passed off as educational is a slap in the face.


I could have easily said I hated it and I thought it was a shitty exploitation/propaganda piece of refuse and I feel sorry for the people that enjoy this movie because I know why they do, and those little bits of blood and violence should bring shame to everyone who claims this movie displays and merits any kind of educational or thought provoking understanding. This movie is a blatant and diplorable exploitation of those who lost their lives in order to craft some kind of current of pride in the hearts of the nation that was treated like lumber. I cannont commend this movie in any way, I thought it was tasteless and brought about a sense of pure disgust--a feeling I have never felt before--but not for the people behind the act, but rather the people who are using the act in such a way that brings about all the wrong emotions.

Fucking garbage and a waste of my time. Please don't make it a waste of yours and go read about Unit 731 and use that as your basis for trying to understand just what happened.

Tokyo Gore Police (2008)

(My third attempt in trying to review this movie)


Over the course of my life I have seen many many things, I have seen just about everything happen to a human body and I have sat through countless "gore" films, but I can honestly say nothing, and I mean nothing, is as outrageously violent and over-the-top as Yoshiro Nishimura's Tokyo Gore Police.

This movie succeeds where most uber-violent films fail in that this movie isn't trying to be something it is not. Most "underground" or "gore" films these days are trying to play of glorifying violence as some kind of art form, when really all it is is some fetishistic lust for seeing life destroyed in the most obscene (read: trying way too hard at making it real looking) way possible.

They usually take this rout or the even shittier rout the Saw films have decided to take and that is using violence and death as some sort of tool to teach people just how important life is. Don't get me wrong, it is a noble cause, but I just don't see someone having a giant machine strapped to their head or some elaborate Rube Goldberg-esque monstrosity is the right way to explain the need to sustain life.

Where this film separates itself from the rest of the competition (I use this term very lightly) is that it knows exactly what it is trying to be--fucking batshit insane. This movie does not value life or lessons or even a plot that truly matters, but where it lacks in moral messages it makes up for being the most outlandish use of violence I have ever seen. A woman with acidic breast milk, a man with an elephant size penis cannon, another woman who gets her lower torso shot off and grows some kind of alligator mouth to replace the legs she lost, oh, and a pissing human chair...Seriously, I can't make this shit up.

I am not joking when I tell you some man has a huge cannon in place of his member (which was bitten off by the nipple missing alligator leg woman. Oh yea, she has no nipples, forgot to mention that part) and I know it sounds like something that just couldn't be real, but I assure you, there are these things in this film (take that life lesson!) and it doesn't shy away from showing some blood.

This brings me to my next point. There is more blood in this movie than in any other film ever made. There is more of it in the first four minutes than anywhere else in cinema today. Hell, there is more of it in the wrist cutting scene in the beginning that there is in an actual human body. It is that bloody, and the thing about it is that it isn't trying to be realistic with the bloodshed. It has every single injury shooting out gallons and gallons of the stuff and the director makes it a point to cover the floor (and the screen) as many times as he can.

It really does make my head hurt trying to review this one. It is so far out there that I am afraid if I try to analyze it too much (which no one ever should do) that it might turn some off to seeing it. This movie is something that I highly enjoyed watching. It isn't the greatest film ever, but it sure as hell isn't the worst film I have seen (beats the piss out of most American films of the same genre, and I don't even pay attention to what they shovel out anymore) and I think that is what the director had in mind.

For what it is (just a plain ol' exhibition and glorification of violence) it sure does a good job at keeping the blood flowing and me interested. I like being able to laugh at someone getting their head cut off, not expecting to believe it is real (believe me, it pales in comparison to the real thing).

Alright.....I can't do it anymore, this movie is one even I can't even review without doing it some kind of injustice. You either hate it or love it, there is no middle ground in Tokyo Gore Police. I could go on and tell you the leading lady Eihi Shiina is from Takashi Miike's Audition (another film everyone should see by the way) or that this is a remake of a independent film the director made named Anatomia Extinction.

I could even go on to tell you the actual story that weaves itself in and out of the film--Tokyo is in shambles due to a mad scientist know as "Key Man" who puts keys into people turning them into things called "Engineers" and all hell takes a shit when the bad ass police force gets involved in stopping them and there is a lot of blood and shit you would only see in the notebook of the weird ass kid in the back of the class. Blah blah blah.




Seriously, a woman grows an alligator mouth for legs. If this isn't a sign that this film needs to be watched then I don't know what would suffice as a reason.

How about a picture:







Sure as shit beats the pissing human chair or the snail lady......

Watch it.

Nuit Et Brouillard (Night and Fog) (1955)

"Anyone interested in civics must see Night and Fog and Salo."

- Jean-Claude Biette

Upon hearing this bold statement made by the French director on a documentary about the making of Salo I decided, without any concern of civics, see what this other movie was all about. The simple fact it was being mentioned with something like Salo had to account for something (we are talking about the most controversial film ever) and this was either a feather in its hat or a nail in its coffin, in my book at least.

Needless to say, I have seen the film, and clocking in at only 31 minutes long, it is both bold and controversial in its own right (Bulldozers plowing piles of bodies into holes in preperation for burial and such atrocities). Having seen many things on the Holocaust, from either side of the equation - the oppressor or the oppressed - this happens to be the only one that blends the two into something that rests on a different kind of pedestal. It does not damn the Nazi party for what they did or even offer an outright reason to feel and sympathy for the victims (although one will already do these things reguardless of any overtly given reason to), what it does is show the impact that such a monsterous thing has left, like an unfading scar on the face of society.

This is what seperates this from most documentaries about the Holocaust, in that it is showing it to you as if you were to go there today and see the fences, walk through the gates, and stand in a place where thousands never returned from. While doing this it does cut to actual footage of the camps in several different occurances, from the loading of the trains and the fear in these peoples eyes as they are unloaded like cattle to their untimely death at the hands of the Nazis (some of which I have never seen before, like the men drinking soup).

None of this is overdone to the point of making the realization of responsiblity for done actions anymore obvious than it already is, as I've said, this is a study of both sides of the spectrum, an overall showing of what happened all those years ago and what it left for all of us that weren't behind the barbed wire.

Truly a masterpiece of a documentary about events that will then, now, and forever be remembered.

El Topo (The Mole) (1970)

Now, a late holiday gift for everyone.

Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo.

This is my favorite film, this is probably the greatest film ever made, and it is more than likely this is perfection at its greatest. Nothing has, or ever will come to what this movie has done for world of cinema (at least in my eyes).

With this being said, I will try to sum up this movie into something worth reading.

Alejandro Jodorowsky, as you may have read about in my review of his mind-skewing epic "The Holy Mountain" is probably the most pretentious man to ever grace the film industry. Everything he shows you has multiple meanings, therefore creating something that can be viewed on more than one level (at least a thousand by my count). Every scene is a piece of art, the foreground, midground, and even the background are all parts conducted masterfully by his vision.

This movie however was not his trip to finding enlightenment (as was The Holy Mountain), but his showing of the power of life, death, love, hate, and showing how everything will eventually pass through all of these stages in life. No one is fully good nor fully bad, and Jordorowsky displays this brilliantly (Superman is a pervert in his eyes).

The symbolism is a lot more subtle in this movie, but this does not mean that everything is not representing something or another (from his relationship with his son, his hate for his father and two amputee's dressed like John Wayne), and this is what seperates Jordorowsky from all other directors. His attention to detail and true eye for finding beauty in everything (I mean everything) is why he is the greatest, because he is not afraid to show things (and people) who normally wouldn't get the praise or screentime he gives them (Passolini did this also, much more on the negative side of the social spectrum).

From the first shot of the horse riding through the desert to the final scene is a beautiful showing of a fall from grace and the redimption one can truly find in the end (like I said before, he shows that no one is truly good or truly bad, and, oddly enough, that everyone must realize that they have both a female and a male side).

Another one of the things that I respect him for is that he uses normal people instead of actors (everything from himself in the lead role to his son he has never seen. He even has a woman who took 500 tabs of acid and was triping the entire time of shooting). Once again, he uses people that normally wouldn't (at the time) be in a film, and this adds a whole different spectrum to his films, because most of the time these people are playing themselves (no one is acting gay or under the influence, they actually have those qualities). This is something that has died out in most of the film industry in these times (everyone claims to be an aspiring actor) and it is a true shame. Reality is what everyone is trying to produce and it can't happen if there are people pretending to be something their not.

Moving on to what you hear during this visual barrage;

One of Jordorowsky's claims is that the soundtrack (this being all of the audio in the film, from the music to the dialouge) is another level of art and it should be altered and changed. Nothing should be left normal and more often than not it is about as far from normal as you can get. You have a woman sounding like a young man and the sound of goats turned to 11 (if this joke does not land, i'm sorry for you) and this is just another reason why he is in a whole different league than everyone else.

Besides the film itself, I can't recommend the commentary more. Having him explain everything that is being seen just adds even more luster to his already blinding films (I do mean watch all of his films a few times and then watch it with the commentary track on).

This review is certainly not enough to muster up even a smidgen of what this movie is and what kind of impact it brings to the table. If you watch any movie that I review do yourself a favor and pick this one up and dedicate a few hours to soaking in what a true genius in every sense of the word has to offer.

Vormittagsspuk (Ghosts Before Breakfast) (1928)

This little short stop motion film (where an object is moved small amounts between frames, thus appearing to be moving on its own) is a creepy little movie. The thing is, the ghost are not the creepy part, its the group of four guys who seem to come in contact with spirits before their bowl of oatmeal, or in this case a cup of coffee.

To pretty much answer the question "how does a lunatic think?", well this movie is as close to answering that question. Involving flying hats that land perfectly on the tops of bushes (and eachother) and really creepy guys looking everywhere with deathly blank stares, seeming to have lost their hats (and sanitys) to some mischievous celestial beings (who are expert revolver stackers). Seriously, they could have been wax figures for all I know, they were that weird looking. Then there is a scene where a figure of a man is standing behind a target and another man is trying to shoot him, but suddenly the first guy's head starts spinning around. Then cue ghost gun stacking and spinning cutscene. Yea, pretty darn weird.


This actually has some of the more disturbing (not really for these times, but I thought they were a little bit freaky) scenes ive seen in some early work like this. The "beard rubbing scene" is probably the creepiest thing (the one guy who starts twisting his mustache..eh) and then the guy with the horrid (I mean hoorrid) teeth rocking his head back and forth while two guys bash eachother bare handedly.

These German guys were probably the greatest filmmakers of the 20's (even on into the early thirties, before the American noir movement) and Hans Richter's little film really shows how odd some of their material really was.

Maybe it was a good thing the Nazi's destroyed the sound version of the film, I cant imagine who could bare that experience.


Also, i dont quite understand why the guy with the hat on his head was looking for a hat as well, but maybe he was just helping the other weirdos out.




Furthermore, I just found a copy with music (not sure if it is the real deal, will look into it) and lets just say, its exactly what you would expect to be playing at some serial rapists barber shop.

Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom) (1975)

I first learned of a film that depicted the most horrendous acts of mankind with a artistic nonchalantness my final year in school. I could not believe that something so crazy had actually been produced, and i needed to see it. I purchased it soon after learning about its raw emotion and a well defined lack of concern, ended up being a bad bootleg, lost it (couldnt complain here really), but then this pox of a film was reissued by Criterion a few months ago, so i decided to pick up an actual copy of it, and i've seen a lot of things in my time, but this definetley takes the cake of just being the most deplorable piece of simulated hatred i have ever seen.

Killed just days before Salò's offical release, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes a story that is already saturated with things that aren't something that anyone should be proud of acting out (let alone write about it) and adds an all too familiar current day tone. A film so attrocious that the screenwriter has yet to see the movie he helped craft, and the multiple countries banning this film along the years only adds to the power of this social outcry.


On to the actual film. This is a downward spiral from beginning to end, there are no breaks in the constant skew of humanity. There is no pause or time to catch your breath, this is a constant barrage on everything we, as civilized people, hold sacred. The idea of seeing the majority of the movie from far in the distance was done on purpose. Pasolini wanted there to be thread of empathy for the actors on scree, he wanted us to all see what was happening as if we were there ourselves. There is no room to mourn or try and get an understanding of what is going on, this is the lowest of the low and Pasolini want all to know this.

To furthermore add to the unique quality of this film, the actors were kept in the dark about what was to be shot the next day until minutes before shooting actually began, so most of the reactions (and the young girl vomitting in the circle of shit) are real, these young people do not know what they stepped into and it is clearly showing in the faces. They are essentially degrading themselves in the name of art, and it is some of the strongest commitment i have ever seen in a movie.


This film offer no hope for redimption, you are not able to feel sorry for anyone involved in this film and you can't help but fail at trying to seperate yourself from the men commiting such acts, as you are just another pair of voyuristic eyes watching. The only redeeming quality this film has going for it is that it does in fact end eventually, but not as the credits roll, this film will resonate with you for days to come, never really leaving you no matter how much you try.

Shichinin No Samurai (Seven Samurai) (1954)

Now, despite what I may proclaim haphazardly about El Topo being as close to spiritual enlightenment as anything I have ever seen in this world or the next, know that it is only because I do believe that Alejandro is a God amongst mortal men.

In reality, Akira Kurosawa's MONUMENTAL film "The Seven Samurai" is, and forever will be, the greatest film produced by any mortal man (see? see?). Yes, i do believe that Kurosawa has the ever-so-keen "eye of the beholder" perceptions of the world around him, and he pulls out all the stops in the 3 hour plus statue of celluloid perfection to bring you a movie that will forever burn brightly, no matter how dense the shit storm is, and my friends, it is pretty fucking thick.

When i describe a film as "whole", what I mean is that every shot, from one side of the screen to the other, something is happening, as a true piece of art is suppose to present to the audience.

In every shot of this film, from one corner to the opposite, and even from one depth to the next, action is taking place, people are talking or doing something, or a horizon shot of a band of horse-clad bandits rides across the hills is taking place, and the fact of the matter is--you can see the entire group of bandits in the shot.

Perception is Kurosawa's middle name. He is the almighty mighty knowing Holy Meca of a man in the realm of perception. He knows the true art of every depth of vision and he makes them a true piece of the film, not something that lays empty in every shot. 3-D would be a good way to describe how "The Seven Samurai" looks. Don't view every shot as a flat image, but as a cube, there is action happening from 12 inches in front of the camera to 20 feet from it. There is so much going on in every shot that im curious to how he does it without making it a cluddered mess to look at, and it is obvious he is just that good at what he does.

On to my favorite part of this film, its lead actor (and my favorite), Toshiro Mifune. He is the most entertaining actor I have ever seen (the only thing to even come close to him would be Daniel Day-Lewis or...well Daniel Day-Lewis pretty much is it) and much live the way Kurosawa directs, Mifune acts. He is a very deeply intrisic man who one moment can be jumping off the ground excited to hunched down and snarling. He is intimidating, cruel, disillusioned, but also endearing, proud and commanding. A force that has certainly resonated a certain perfection in it's own right.

Everything about this movie has been crafted from the finest the world has to offer, from the actors to the action, the Director of Photography (a genius in his own right, more on him later im sure) to the horse wrangler and from the mud and the artificial rain, this movie has everything anyone will ever need in reality, but for everything else there is always El Topo.

Symphonie diagonale (1924)

Ah, the land of Public Domain. a place where you can find true gems and hidden treasures, or really bad movies that are no surprise to have had their copyright run out. This little movie is, for lack of a better way to put it, not for everyone. There is no plot, sound,color, or anything but stark images on a black screen for an extended period of time. This images can be interpreted anyway you want (i thought they represented the beating of a heart, but that is just me) and it is done so abstractly that the list is infinite.

You wont find this film on DVD so look for it online (again, Public Domains are a good thing here) and there is no reason whatsoever that you would want to watch this movie other than the fact you can say you have seen it and further alienate yourself from your peers. With this being said, there is no reason not watch this movie, but most will feel that the seven minutes it takes you to watch this will forever be wasted. Just a little piece of Abstract pie that takes you back to when the whole idea of making movies was still a fresh idea in culture and the results were generally endless.

There is no real way to defend this little film, or even condemn it for that matter. It is simply a showing of one of the forefathers of Abstract/Avant-Garde film genre, and to be quite honest, it is one of the better presentations of said subject.It is abstract enough without totally confusing the viewer, but deep enough to envoke artistic thought on what is actually being protrayed.

Most "Avant-Garde" claiming movies out there are pieces of pretentious rubble that aren't worth your time (I might actually get to some of them soon enough), but this has just the right balance of imagery and lack of anything else that earns itself a proper place in the niche of Abstract film.

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

As i skimmed my DVD collection today i noticed a ungodly blemish of a film on the bottom shelf. Imported from Australia and only watched once by my eyes is a movie not quite accepted for what it is but relished for everything it isn't. I bring you Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust, and friends this isn't going to be pretty.

Although not my favorite controversial Italian film ever (Salo by far is the greatest) but still a good piece of explotation cinema that blends actual movie style filming (which in my opinion was the downfall of an otherwise believeable "mockumentary, but more on this later) with guerilla-esque documentary style shooting (which gets pretty grisly). It tells the tale of a group of amatuer filmaker's as they set off for a wild excursion in the jungle "Heart of Darkness" style, but if you decided to break every rule there is. They just don't make them like this anymore, and I will try and sum up the whole thing without ruining it for you.

First of all, the violence in this movie is unlike anything you have ever seen or will ever see again in this life or the next. Not for the faint of heart or the ever so common animal lover, seriously, if you love animals to any extent other than considering them a pet than this movie is not for you, and I mean it. Real animals get slaughtered in the name of art and it gets pretty grisly (the turtle scene is by far the gastliest thing i have ever seen and this is only for the sake of the animal lovers i had to sit and watch this with. I wasn't effected much other than quenching my curiosity of what it looks like under a turtle's shell) and Deodato doesn't stop there and he adds a few rape scenes, a primitive abortion, an impalement, more blood, oh and some good ol' cannibalism. Did i mention a baby pig gets shot in the head? Yeah, there is some of that too. A monkey getting the top of it's head chopped off you ask? This movie delivers that in spades. The only aspect that seperates this from all those quasi-horror films or the current heap of gore filled cannon fodder they are passing as films these days is that the majority of this is real, yes REAL. I wont disclaim what is and what isnt (all the animal scenes are real mind you), but im sure this wont stop you from googling it anyway.

The only reason this movie isnt as good as it could have been is the beginning is shot like a movie and it decimates the overall momentum that this movie is suppose to have. If they just showed you the tapes they found on the decrepit carcasses of the camera man and his fellow friends then this would have been a monumental film in a genre that had already hit it's high point a few years before (Salo again) but they had to make it a movie and add in some cheesy 80's era acting that a few slides of text or even a narrator could have taken care of. Even in the wake of all this bad acting the movie still raised every red flag from here to Nantucket and back again. A few court cases and proof that everything was fabricated (not the animals dying though, sorry.) and what was left was a monsterous movement in the freedom that filmaking can garner to someone with a clear vision of what he wants and who he wants to upset.

Clearly im praising this movie to some extent and I do recommend this to anyone who likes to see something a bit different (read: unlike anything you will ever see). Not a good "family flick" or something you watch with the signifigant other, your mother, or anyone for that matter. This movie is to be watched alone with the drapes pulled down and behind locked doors, and for good reason.

I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967)

I was curious, and had I been a cat when I watched this movie I would not be sitting here telling you about it. This is, Ladies and Gentlemen, my first semi-negative review.

Much like America was changing in the 60's the same could be said for the Swedes in Vilgot Sjöman controversial "I Am Curious" series (the other part being "I Am Curious (Blue)). "I Am Curious (Yellow)" is a romp through the streets of Sweden in a decade that seemed to effect the entire world.

This movie is hard to catagorize, as it doesn't use traditional methods of Hollywood filming. In some instances it looks like its going to be a rugged documentary tackling social traditions such as a class system and civil strife (guest appearance by Martin Luther King jr.), but then quickly changes into an even more rugged voyeuristic home movie (sex on a bridge, sex in a tree, sex just about anywhere really) and every now and then there will be little game show esque interjections that only add to the confusion.

This is going to be a rather short review, as im not really a fan of this movie (i have yet to put the blue version in my dvd player for a fear i might fall asleep). I commend it for its lack of structure and unique way of filming, but only to an extent. The movie is all over the place and its hard to really keep track of the plot (is there really one?) and the characters were hard to keep track of (im not sure if it was because they were all Swedish or what), but I understand that this is only because we are following a young lady, Lena Nyman (portraying herself actually) as she finds herself in the ever changing world around her and the shooting matches her tenacity. What it really boils down to is that the movie was made for that generation of people and doesn't have much vaule to anyone else who trys to understand its meaning.

I can only recommend this film for anyone who is trying to broaden their movie horizons (as I am) because the casual viewer (don't think it will be fun to watch this movie and don't try and make a "curious" pun) will quickly be turned away from the complicated premise and lack of anything American besides MLK Jr. This is a Swedish film for the Swedish people, and even most of them won't get what the hell is going on.

Remember, curiosity isnt always a good thing.

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Alejandro Jodorowsky, father of the midnight cinema movement of the 70's and in my opinion one of the greatest directors ever to grace the world with their vision. He takes a complete 180 degree turn from the fundamentals of surrealism (where nothing really means anything, its just crass action) and crafts a story where everything is a symbol for somthing (seriously, a hippo representing Jesus and feces being turned into gold, as i've said before I cannot make this stuff up) and it makes the otherwise standard story (an adventure story about a group of people that would make Tolkien roll around in his grave) and pumps it full of Astrology, Tarot symbols, Mysticism, Metaphysical mentionings, drugs (not so much portrayed in the movie rather than having people actually on drugs while filming was taking place), Zen, Sufi, Yoga, I Ching and most importantly the strive for Enlightenment.

Jodorowsky, a man who to some is a genius and to others completeley insane and I think he settles comfortably riding the fine line between the two. He meshes all of these different religious and mystical ideals all at once that one would think this much symbolism in a movie would clutter and make it not worthwhile, but the thing that he does best is that he knows when too much is too much and the fact of the matter is there is never enough symbolism in any shot. Every scene in this movie is filled to the brim with actual meaning other than the action being portrayed on screen. This might turn some people off to his work because thinking deeply isn't something they like doing when watching a movie (they want all the visuals with no underlying meaning), but this is also where this movie hits pay dirt. The fact that at face vaule this is just some kinda weird movie that should only be shown in a dark and dank theatre and viewed through only the thickest clouds of marijuana smoke, but because of this setback it has people coming back and back into its warm embrace because people want to know what it all means (thus finding enlightenment in themselves, to an extent) and they will watch it twenty times just to soak it all in (the commentary also works well, as Jodorowsky will explain just about everything you would need to know about this movie and then some).

The story, as I said before, is a simple adventure from one place to another and it doesn't start off this way and it sure as hell doesn't end this way either. I wont ruin it, but the ending will have you either scratching your head or jumping out the window. Jodorowsky takes the art of character development to all time highs as he has everyone representing a different planet in our Solar System (again symbolism all over the place, and oddly, a woman with no belly button) and each having a different industry they represent (coffin-esque hotel arrangements to child armies, and it even takes you to a wall of severed male organs sitting quaintly inside glass jars).

This takes the first half of the movie to get through (the longest character development section I have ever seen), but what happens when you bring them all together along with a thief, a mystic of sorts (Jodorowsky himself) and his tattoo laden female sidekick?

Well the actual story for one, but a look at the power that Jodorowsky has as a director. The man takes you through a drug filled training sequence that is actually the real deal (talk about method acting) and he is so pretentious that he flips the entire script at the end (no one saw it coming) and claims that you dont have to open your mouth to speak or act for that matter (like I said, the fine line between insanity and genius).

The crew of actors' actual lives are just about as crazy as the characters they portray and for being on drugs most of the time they are wonderful to watch (actually I think that is why they were so good), but this is hardly what the viewer is paying attention too, so I won't get into this too much, and quite frankly there isn't that much "acting" going on, its a pretty real film and although it may be a labeled as a movie, these people are experiencing this in actuality and thus making their characters far more real (sometimes to a point where you can't believe it is real).

All of Jodorowsky's films will be hard to actually review because of their depth and the cliche facet of "you gotta see it for yourself to believe it". I could spent numerous hours tearing apart every morsel of this movie and break down the symbolism into mere numeric equations, but that would ruin the journey for you. I will disclaim this though, The Holy Mountain is not a movie you watch once and forget about it, no, this movie will stay with you and leave your mouth gapping and you fingers constantly pinching your arms to see if it all was just a weird dream.

This film will require the most free mind to watch and enjoy, don't go into this movie expecting sheer insanity, but rather go with the flow and take the joy as it comes to you and I promise you wont be dissapointed.

Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) (1929)

The word "structure" does not apply to "Un Chien Andalou", Luis Buñuel's first attempt at making Surrealism a household ideal, and with the help of Surrealism savant Salvador Dalí (the man who painted the melting clocks) he is able to show you what 17 minutes of pure free form thought (or insanity, depends on how you look at it) looks like. There is no plot whatsoever and one would be a fool to try and surmise an idea of what exactly is going on. This the exact opposite of what this movie entends to do (we aren't talking about symbolism at every turn here, in fact there is nothing in this movie that means anything other than what you see at face vaule).

From the close-up slicing of a womans eye (if this does not tell you what kind of ride your in for then there is no helping you) to the dragging of dead and decomposing donkeys stuffed inside two pianos (i'm not making this stuff up, I swear) and all the confusing twists, turns, ups and downs in between, this movie will take you somewhere you had no idea exsisted and shows that it takes nothing but a clear sense that you are in control and can use that power to make a monumental film.

There is no dialogue spoken in this film and all the acting have the low frame rate quality of earlier films that adds a dreamy touch to the overall production and keeping the idea of of there is no clear idea deeply dug into the viewers mind.

The soundtrack is just as varied as the visuals is lays behind. One moment it is upbeat (akin to a ballroom party of the European flavor) then the violins drone into a settling soundscape then into daunting highs but never abandonning it's sweet serinty. I dont think i've ever seen a woman get run over and not hear some dramatic music to match the action being shown on the screen (it was the most pleasant hit and run i've ever seen).

Being the mouthpieces of Surrealism at the time, Buñuel and Dalí had no intentions to please the crowds (seriously, these guys were crazy and they knew it) but rather to provoke thought and show that anyone can pretty much do anything they want in the name of art.

If you are a fan of the Avant-Garde movement of the twentys or just want to see what having no artistic constraints whatsoever looks like then you should check this little slice of Heaven out.