Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Persistence of Vision)
Chilean-born Jodorowsky is best known for his violent, surreal movies but has also been a protege of legendary mime Marcel Marceau, a writer of graphic novels, a performance artist, even a tarot reader. "Most directors make films with their eyes. I make films with my cojones," he once claimed. His psychedelic spaghetti westernEl Topogave birth to the Midnight Movie movement and cemented his place as one of cinema's most maddening, significant auteurs. Cobb's Persistence of Vision series entry contains rare photos and illustrations (a chapter on the abandonedDuneproject with Salvador Dali, Orson Welles, and Pink Floyd will have his fans foaming at the mouth); new interviews with Jodorowsky; and thorough coverage of all his films, includingThe Rainbow Thief,The Holy Mountain, and his debut,Fando Y Lis, the 1968 Acapulco film festival premiere of which was met by a full-scale riot. Scholarly enough to satisfy cineast owners of his films on grainy, bootleg VHS tapes, accessible for budding film students, this is a fine introduction to Jodorowsky's strange oeuvre.Carlos OrellanaCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved