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Excellent adaptation.

Best movie ever!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One accusation that I've heard leveled against Jodorowsky is that he is too much a madman: that there is nothing to understand about his films, as they are the work of a deranged mind. Deranged? That hardly seems likely. He seems to way far too functional to earn that label. An author as well as a filmmaker, he is clearly a person of some thoughtfulness. What makes him different, however, is that he is a magical thinker. I mean he is a magical thinker in two senses: first, that he is prone to applying causal relationships where, to quote wikipedia, "scientific consensus says that there are none." Secondly, he is a magical thinker in that his imagination is vivid, almost magical in the connections that makes between various elements of this strange life on Earth.His personal beliefs, so central to the message of this film, flow from spiritual traditions, from philosophies that depend upon magical thinking for their support. He holds an idea of psychogenealogy, for example, which draws upon Jung's collective unconscious. One can take Jung's ideas more or less literally, but there exists enough ambiguity in the style of Jung's writing that a popular interpretation of the collective unconsciousness is that of a sort of world mind, a sort of wellspring which exists outside of our reality and perhaps unbounded by time. In this way, the experience of the father, and the father's father, are the experience of the son. The father-son relationship is, of course, key to The Dance of Reality. Ostensibly an autobiographical look at Jodorowsky's childhood, the film diverges quite often from following the story of the child to illustrate the story of the father, perhaps as imagined by the child. My girlfriend, having watched this with me, found this a bit jarring. These two narratives, however, are unified, as one comes to understand the character of the father in The Dance of Reality as a sort of avatar of Alejandro. We all become like our fathers, in at least some ways, and it is our great challenge to differentiate ourselves. It should come as little surprise that part of the abuse heaped upon child-Jodorowsky by his father stems from a desire on the part of the father to slough off any such "weaknesses" that he exhibits.The elder Jodorowsky represents, in this film, a sort of arch anti- magical thinking mindset. Portrayed as a true-blue communist, he rejects religion as an "opiate of the masses." When the child escapes into the world of theosophy as a way to experience happiness outside of the bitter realm of his father, the father reacts by flushing the religious symbols which hold such meaning down the toilet. A thinker like Richard Dawkins or Sam Harris will certainly react negatively to such an illustration of a rational thinker. But remember, that in their writings, they essentially patronize the magical-thinker. But this is perhaps too far a digression from the film itself. After all, as the story unfolds, we see Jaime, Jodorowsky's father, going on a sort of picaresque journey of suffering and redemption. Only, unlike most picaresques, the main character experiences transformation, more in the vein of Apuleius's Lucius than Fielding's Tom Jones. During this journey, we see his strongly-held beliefs stripped away from him as his goals are at once realized, hindered, and transformed. The person he was no longer proves to be a trustworthy guide; he must create for himself a new identity, and indeed perhaps discover what he was all along in the process. It's important to look at this film not as an attack on rational thought, but rather an exploration of how catharsis and suffering can help a person develop a stronger self- awareness, and subsequently develop an identity which provides them with greater happiness. As a sometime magical-thinker myself, I can relate to and sympathize with Jodorowsky's point of view. When I like to imagine that there is some sort of divine purpose which guides the river of time, I immediately chastise myself for allowing such intellectual indulgences. I know that it is absurd; at times, I wonder if perhaps that is the very reason why I sometimes believe, why I always want to believe. Heresy, of course. I like to mollify myself by saying that I'm somehow different: what I imagine to be sacred, to be god, differs immeasurably from the simplistic, straight-forward theology that we see so often in our culture. But that feels hollow, like I am simply using what intelligence I have to construct a more complicated, more elaborate and perhaps more fashionable way of putting forward what is still simply a magical thought.Is it cowardice? Perhaps. Perhaps I am simply afraid of being called a lunatic – of thinking myself a lunatic. Certainly, Jodorowsky has no such fears. Although I don't agree with Jodorowsky on what may actually exist and what is true in regards to matters of the spirit, I can't help but admire his willingness to go out on a limb.Watching a film like this, I find in myself a strong desire to dig deeper. What is the real truth of the matter? Was Jodorowsky's real father this much of a tyrant, or a communist? Was his mother so dramatic and bosomy? Just how many cripples and lepers did he encounter as a child, after all? Ultimately, such matters must remain unknowable. We can no more depend upon a child to accurately portray his father than we can depend upon a painter to paint a relation with photo-realism. All we can really depend on is to discover truth through the fabulism present in this work. Core truths which shine through and are your own work, and indeed pleasure, to discover.

the night before going to see this film, I had been rewatching "Pan's Labyrinth" and therefore could not help comparing between the two male leads. I am referring to the evil officer character in "Pan," compared to Jaime in this film. Both are very much representations of a paternally structured society, where men are not allowed to show weakness, and everything is about "who is boss" and one's actions are determined by the fear of punishment and the fear of losing power. in "Pan" the evil officer punishes everything that is intuitive or seemingly irrational or superstitious, creating an icy paranoid environment where the little girl has to escape into her imagination. likewise in this film, Jaime punishes anything in his son that is feminine and therefore considered by him to be "weak." notably the first 20minutes were told from the son's point of view, which accentuates Jamie's harsh parenting. then gradually it makes a full switch to Jamie's point of view. an interesting choice, though it did throw me off. I suppose in the Theosophist's view "everything is one" so it would make no difference whether it's the father's story or the son's story, it is all one story which is the human story, something like that.in "Pan" the officer was pure evil right to the end, but Jodorowsky naturally takes a more complex view. as the years pass more is revealed about Jamie who turns out to be more than a two-dimensional brute. he joins underground political movements, puts his life on the line to help the sick, and becomes an undercover assassin. after experiencing a crisis of conscience, he goes through a brief religious phase before returning to his family. the problem is that all of this time, his brain is still running the same operating system of a fear- based, authoritarian hierarchical mindset. even the seemingly noble deeds are motivated by fear not love, that is fear of losing face or being seen as a coward.to an extent it is true that "fear is a motivator." Jodorowski makes this point repeatedly through his portrayals of anti-semitism. the Jewish fear of being ostracized drives them to achieve more and prove their worth to society. however this fear-based way of thinking ultimately leads Jamie to an unthinkable place, betraying his comrade in pursuit of vain glory and killing a man in cold blood. this ties into another difficulty with the film, it is supposedly a comedy but the main character is entirely unlikable, he is introduced as a monstrous father and subsequently it is hard to care what happens to him. but if one can let go of issues like this, the film turns out to be fairly rewarding.in the end Jamie cures his own paralysis by symbolically destroying the images of his political idols. by recognizing his own potential for evil, he gains a new perspective.Jodorowsky seems to be saying that it doesn't matter which political party you join, or whether you happen to be on the winning side or if you're the guy with the big gun or the little guy begging for crumbs. we are all part of a very sick society that has become outwardly sophisticated but nevertheless governed by the same brain circuits as the great apes. really it is not that one person is more evil than the other, as we are all ruled by the same animal circuits if we happened to be in Stalin's situation we are likely to do the same thing. that may be an extreme way of putting it, but I believe he has a point.

In 1962 at the Cine Diana in Mexico City, Jodorowsky performed an efimero titled "Poema Dinámico Para Un Inmóvil De Hierro" to introduce an iron mural made of metal leftovers called "Mural De Hierro" sculpted by Manuel Felgueréz.51 years later at this same place La Danza De La Realidad was screened.The film is based upon Jodorowsky's childhood in Tocopilla, his hometown before he moved to Santiago and described on 3 of his own literary works: El Niño Del Jueves Negro 80%, Donde Mejor Canta Un Pájaro 10% y La Danza De La Realidad 10%.Seems that Jodorowsky needed to clear an spiritual debt with his origins, and as a result we have this very well done film but nothing compared to his previous works. It happens to me that when i read the book before the film even exists, I very often prefer my own imaginative perspective rather than the one from the director of the film, in this case for La Danza De La Realidad, Jodorowsky's vision was very far away and less creative from what, from previous films (even the ones he does not like:The Rainbow Thief) used to amaze me. The purple ship sailing and commanded by the Death towards the infinite of the sea is an scene that confirms that before he died he needed to meet his past and "forgive" it to be able to rest in peace. A living requiem.To end this review, i can't' stop comparing this film with Fernando Arrabal's Viva La Muerte and noticed that Arrabal dealt with his own childhood traumas on his very first film.El Mural De Hierro was not there anymore.

I could pretty much say that for every other film from Alejandro Jodorowsky. Lucky enough I was able to familiarize myself with his previous films; 'El Topo' and 'The Holy Mountain' a month ago, before hearing his latest 'The Dance of Reality' will play at the Melbourne Internation Film Festival; direct from its Cannes premiere.I can't really recommend this to you if you aren't very familiar with Jodorowsky's other films. He always if not Often plays on Allegories; El Topo appears as an allegorical Western playing on a very mystic and strange backdrop full of religious ideals and encounters, while also exploring how much of this comes from human deeds on a spiritual journey to enlightenment. I'd gladly revisit that film again and consider it his "Masterpiece". 'The Holy Mountain' on the other hand has just as much of a cult following as 'El Topo' does, Instead That film focuses on spiritual conflict and pilgrimage to attain a spiritual level greater than man above the solar system's landscape. Both films have even been noted to be part of the ever wondrous hippie generation. Jodorowsky truly is an icon for what he achieved expressing within his films; very Avent-Garde spiritual understanding within our mind's visions giving greater tones to such surrealist imagery of psychedelia. Sure enough his films aren't for everyone and must be approached with a curious and Adult mind to fully understand.'The Dance of Reality' marks Jodorowsky's first film in almost 23 years. Its an autobiographical film based upon the Jodorowsky's memoir of he name. The Film focuses on his upbringing in Chile, Young Alejandro (Jeremías Herskovits) is a curious boy trying to understand the values of life and childhood. His Father Jaime (Brontis Jodorowsky) is very strict, arrogant and abusive due to his obsession with communism and Stalin, he teaches the young Alejandro the meaning of manhood growing up and the lessons in life. His Mother; Sara (Pamela Flores, all her dialogue is sung) is more gracious and loving towards both Alejandro and Jaime. The plot seems to focus on both father and son character development. Alajandro is growing up to becoming a fine young lad with good moral values taught by both his parents. Jaime on the Other hand thinks he can do anything within his power and might but eventually ends losing is all not learning his lesson from such reckless deeds, eventually trying get out the hard way. The 84 year old 'Jodorowsky' himself, serves as the film's narrator or spiritual guidance to his younger self.In some way 'Dance of Reality' explores Jodorowsky's allegory of life and childhood as well as his old man's mistakes. You could say most of these themes have already been explored when looking back at 'El Topo', Although that film was more a metaphor for Jodorowsky's upbringing. 'Dance of Reality' directly takes Jodorowsky's native Chile setting and brings it up close examining his childhood and early spiritual understanding as well as what type of person his father was.This film mainly has many of the similar motifs and symbolism found within Jodorowsky's other films (e.g. limbless or missing limbed humans and visible genitalia, Why? Cause he can!). Psychedelia and surreal imagery play a significant parts within the films substance. The narrative is easy to understand from a direct perspective rather than an exercise on the weird and wonderful. The film for one is fascinating, very engaging and self centered. The character development of Alajandro and Jaime is so drawn in; its hard to distinguish the line of fantasy and reality. Supporting and minor characters also play memorable roles in this film. I guess it was worth the wait for Jodorowsky's first release in years.I can see this film being praised and divided by critics and audiences alike. Jodorowsky shows things within his films that even the most repentant or squeamish mind may find uncomfortable to watch. If given the right audience were to view this film they won't be disappointed. This film is Unlike anything I've ever seen; it has left me Awe Struck, amazed disturbed at the same time. One Thing for certain is Alejandro Jodorowsky is like no other film maker thats ever lived