Anchor Bay: Alejandro Jodorowsky

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Mathieu · #1 Post by **Mathieu** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 5:56 pm

I would take this rumor with an exceptionally large grain of salt, but some interesting information was posted earlier this afternoon on criterionforum.com. I usually don't bother visiting the site, but this caught my attention.

...I have a friend who works for Humanoids Publishing, who told me that Criterion will be releasing El Topo/The Holy Mountain/Santa Sangre tenatively in the spring of next year, as well as Tusk under the cult label or whatever (more details on that label can apparently be found on criterionforum.org) I emailed Mulvaney who gave one of his general "no plans at this time" responses...which of course means nothing and a change from the "we don't have the rights to Jodorowsky's films" that he used to give.

Even if this amounts to nothing, it should at least make for some interesting discussion. Now if Criterion would just get around to releasing Jigoku and the rest of the Shintoho Studio titles...

Cinephrenic · #2 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:11 pm

Interesting. Perhaps they could get some Glauber Rocha films as well with Jodorowsky.

Tribe · #3 Post by **Tribe** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:06 pm

Humanoids Publishing

Wasn't Humanoids the French publisher of Moebius and several other French cartoonists who appeared in Metal Hurlant? At some point, and man, this is going back for me there was a Jodorowsky/Moebius collaboration called Incal? Am I full of baloney on this?

Tribe

Elephant · #4 Post by **Elephant** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:16 pm

Tribe wrote:
Humanoids Publishing
Wasn't Humanoids the French publisher of Moebius and several other French cartoonists who appeared in Metal Hurlant? At some point, and man, this is going back for me there was a Jodorowsky/Moebius collaboration called Incal? Am I full of baloney on this?

Tribe

No, you're right. Jodorowsky still does plenty of graphic novels through Humanoids, which are available in smaller-size formats (and translated into English) in the US through DC Comics; however, due to Humanoids books selling three copies each in the US, DC has ceased publication of Humanoids stuff. But yes, INCAL was one of the American titles, and Jodorowsky had several others, including a western.

Mathieu · #5 Post by **Mathieu** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:25 pm

I wonder if Criterion will include Jodorowsky's 1957 short film The Severed Heads as a supplement with one of the films.

peerpee · #6 Post by **peerpee** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:03 pm

FANDO Y LIS went OOP, perhaps they could do the COMPLETE JODOROWSKY boxset....?

Mathieu · #7 Post by **Mathieu** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:34 pm

FANDO Y LIS went OOP, perhaps they could do the COMPLETE JODOROWSKY boxset....?

If so , then the optically-censored Japanese boxed set would become obsolete by comparison. This would also allow Criterion access to the insightful documentary included with Fantoma's Fando and Lis disk.

Doctor Sunshine · #8 Post by **Doctor Sunshine** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:12 am

Insightful in that it exposes Jodorowsky as a shyster? (I'm not a big fan either)

In Heaven · #9 Post by **In Heaven** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:49 am

If this is true, I will die a happy man. El Topo is one of the greatest films ever made.

Tribe · #10 Post by **Tribe** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 1:43 am

Jodorowsky's films have been of interest to me primarily because of his courage and his vision. Having said that, and while his films more often than not have moments which stand out and make me go "wow," I must also admit that the very first time I saw El Topo I was in undergrad and I'm thinking this was late 70s....and in anticipation of watching this as part of a double-bill with The Magnificent Seven (I dread to think how that came about) at a local theatre venue, I sat in the very first row and was totally captivated by The Magnificent Seven and totally bored by El Topo...notwithstanding that I had smoked some extremely powerful Columbian Blonde which was very popular at the time.

I've subsequently seen El Topt (without being under the influence), and while I can appreciate some isolated moments, I can also understand why some viewers have strongly held views about his talent (or lack thereof).

Still, I'd welcome Jodorowsky's films being issued by Criterion...if there is one thing I've learned from Henrik on this Board, it's that context is more often than very important when viewing particularly difficult films. A fistful of Criterion extras might be just what I need to further appreciate Jodorowsky's films.

I don't think they'd have any of that Colombian as an extra...

Tribe

Fletch F. Fletch · #11 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:32 am

I always liked Jod's defense of El Topo: "If you're great, El Topo is a great picture; if you're limited, El Topo is limited."

Mathieu · #12 Post by **Mathieu** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:33 am

Insightful in that it exposes Jodorowsky as a shyster?

Insightful in that Jodorowsky's Dune would have been nothing short of astounding. Salvador Dali as Baron Harkonnen. A soundtrack by Pink Floyd. What more could you possibly ask for in a film?

Fletch F. Fletch · #13 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:30 pm

Gï¿½nessier wrote:
Insightful in that it exposes Jodorowsky as a shyster?
Insightful in that Jodorowsky's Dune would have been nothing short of astounding. Salvador Dali as Baron Harkonnen. A soundtrack by Pink Floyd. What more could you possibly ask for in a film?

Not to mention Orson Welles playing a role and Moebius and H.R. Giger working on it as well. Apparently, Giger's paintings/art of the Harkonnen planet were nightmare inducing. The mind boggles...

rwaits · #14 Post by **rwaits** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:12 pm

Its always been very difficult for me to find much good info on the history of this film. Anybody know where I might learn more? Did any film actually ever roll on this project?--it really has always sounded to me like years and years of pre-production...

Fletch F. Fletch · #15 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 4:36 pm

rwaits wrote:Its always been very difficult for me to find much good info on the history of this film. Anybody know where I might learn more? Did any film actually ever roll on this project?--it really has always sounded to me like years and years of pre-production...

Check it out here: http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky.asp

Tribe · #16 Post by **Tribe** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 4:53 pm

I always liked Jod's defense of El Topo: "If you're great, El Topo is a great picture; if you're limited, El Topo is limited."

That's not a defense...it's something Jerry Lewis would have said about, say, The Day the Clown Cried.

Tribe

#17 Post by **zedz** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:10 pm

Tribe wrote:
I always liked Jod's defense of El Topo: "If you're great, El Topo is a great picture; if you're limited, El Topo is limited."
That's not a defense...it's something Jerry Lewis would have said about, say, The Day the Clown Cried.

Tribe

Or John Travolta about Battlefield Earth

ianungstad · #18 Post by **ianungstad** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:29 pm

I was the one who posted this message on criterionforum.com...and I'm pretty sure that these are coming out. I was a bit iffy about even posting this on the net; considering what this kind of stuff has done in the past in regards to Eraserhead and The Game (which I see the rumor is still floating around years later sadly) Anyways I have always enjoyed Jodorowsky's stuff, though admittedly his comics more than his films.

Anyways it looks like the are being licensed from the original financers ABCKO films...does anyone know if they even make movies anymore? Looking at their website it seems they are music only these days so I can understand getting Criterion to put the films out. Anyways it looks like the commentary for El Topo has been recorded in New York; dvds will feature deleted scenes from both films, the short film the severed heads, production stills, trailers, and the documentary this is not real...this is a film.

Does anyone know if criterion has any other films from them?
Cheers, let's hope this all pans out!
IAN

DrewReiber · #19 Post by **DrewReiber** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 7:48 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:
Gï¿½nessier wrote:Insightful in that Jodorowsky's Dune would have been nothing short of astounding. Salvador Dali as Baron Harkonnen. A soundtrack by Pink Floyd. What more could you possibly ask for in a film?
Not to mention Orson Welles playing a role and Moebius and H.R. Giger working on it as well. Apparently, Giger's paintings/art of the Harkonnen planet were nightmare inducing. The mind boggles...

And Vittorio Starraro as DP, more design work from Dan O'Bannon and Chris Foss. There is no doubt in my mind that Jodorowsky's Dune would have been one of the single greatest visions ever put to film.

Hell, look at the fallout...

Jodorowsky and Moebius turned their ideas into The Incal, which was then raped by Luc Besson for The Fifth Element.

Dan O'Bannon and Giger teamed up together and created Alien, which has led to 4 (and soon 6) sequels.

Starraro went on to finish the more accurate and successful Dune with John Harrison, which led to a sequel and the possibility of adapting the prequel books.

DrewReiber · #20 Post by **DrewReiber** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:00 pm

ianungstad wrote:Cheers, let's hope this all pans out!

Here's the news I got back in March from a Jodorowsky forum I watch:

The audio commentary has officially been recorded in NY for the EL TOPO North American DVD release. EL TOPO and THE HOLY MOUNTAIN will both be released by Jody Klein at ABKCO FILMS soon. When exactly is not confirmed but were hoping are around early 2006. Special DVD supplements will include deleted scenes from both films, remastered prints in their original scope. The long awaited short film 'THE SEVERED HEAD', rare stills from Jodorowsky's personal photo collection. Original trailers from around the globe, and more. The inclusion of 'THIS IS NOT REAL...THIS IS A FILM' is being concidered for THE HOLY MOUNTAIN release. Keep posting!

Sincerely,
DAVID DANILOFF (moderator)

I was in Canada when Jodorowsky was back in North America for the first time in about 30 years and came pretty close to doing an interview with him. He was coming back because he and ABKCO finally settled their disputes and offers were going out to re-release El Topo and Holy Mountain on DVD. Theatrical re-releases had also been discussed.

Last I heard, there was a lot of confusion as to how this would happen. I heard conflicting information as to who had the rights and if any DVD companies had actually taken to the offers from ABKCO, when for all we know their asking price could be too high. Then, very quickly, Fando Y Lis went out of print.

Jodorowsky had made comments that Santa Sangre would reach North American DVD last year, but aside from Anchor Bay UK's release of it on Region 2 relatively recently... there has been no word there either. For all we know, these films are spread out rights wise, but these comments about Criterion sound like there might be validity. I just don't know because it still contradicts some of what I heard, which is still information that could have been wrong or outdated.

Either way, from ANKCO's own distribution or through a label, El Topo and Holy Mountain ARE coming.

DrewReiber · #21 Post by **DrewReiber** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:05 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:I always liked Jod's defense of El Topo: "If you're great, El Topo is a great picture; if you're limited, El Topo is limited."

That is a great and telling quote. So, am I correct to assume you're also a Jodorowsky fan, Fletch?

Fletch F. Fletch · #22 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:28 am

DrewReiber wrote:That is a great and telling quote. So, am I correct to assume you're also a Jodorowsky fan, Fletch?

Yeah, I dig his stuff -- especially El Topo which is amazingly strange and wonderful film. Ever seen Perdita Durango? There is a scene early on that looks like it was lifted right of El Topo!

DrewReiber · #23 Post by **DrewReiber** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 9:33 am

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:Yeah, I dig his stuff -- especially El Topo which is amazingly strange and wonderful film. Ever seen Perdita Durango? There is a scene early on that looks like it was lifted right of El Topo!

El Topo is one of my all-time favorite films. I've never heard of Perdita Durango, though.

Man, I wish we had more word on this set. This is potentially the most exciting news I've heard all week.

Fletch F. Fletch · #24 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:53 pm

DrewReiber wrote:I've never heard of Perdita Durango, though.

It's a crazy-ass movie... It was supposed to be a semi-sequel to Wild at Heart following Bobby Peru's girlfriend from that film -- Perdita Durango -- on her own adventures. It stars Rosie Perez (clad in a Tura Satana-style black outfit) and Javier Bardem before he became a big-time international star. He plays a maniacal criminal who also happens to be an even crazier witch doctor. They become lovers and partners in crime, cross the border into Mexico and kidnap a teenage white-bread couple. Throw in a truckload of human fetuses, a DEA officer (a wonderfully sleazy James Gandolfini), the hilarious Screamin' Jay Hawkins (ah, that laugh!), Alex Cox in a small role and you've got a pretty funky little cult film. Definitely worth a look but try and track down the unrated version, or, if you have a regionless player, the European cut which is the best version.

Ted Todorov · #25 Post by **Ted Todorov** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:36 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote: Definitely worth a look but try and track down the unrated version, or, if you have a regionless player, the European cut which is the best version.

A link to the "European cut" DVD of Pedita Durango would be most appreciated.