I just watched my first Alejandro Jodorowsky film, Santa Sangre. I figured it'd be a good place to start since I love horror and it's the most horror of his films from what I can tell.
And I loved it! It had an Italian feel to it (really Spanish, although I noticed Claudio Argento was producer), but wasn't much like those movies in terms of plot and its surreal elements. It reminded me more of something like Raw or Titane, in that it has horror elements but feels to me like more of a drama. Also reminded me of Psycho, for obvious reasons. The gore was nice, and while they weren't exactly frightening, many of the scenes were quite intense and I watched with rapt attention.
What I wasn't expecting was how emotional it would make me. I felt real anger toward Fenix's father, and a real sense of love toward Fenix from the clowns and Alma. I felt pretty angry when the church got knocked down, too. I almost cried when Alma's love was enough for Fenix to wrestle himself out from under his mother's thumb, after the strength of the wrestler he brings home wasn't.
And when the cops told Fenix to put his hands up and he realized that they're finally HIS hands and he grinned from ear to ear, I laughed so happily. What a beautiful movie.
What do you all think? I found it pretty grounded despite the surreal elements, but I am not sure how Santa Sangre herself really fits in. Concha gets her arms cut off, but isn't raped like Santa Sangre was. Rather, her husband has sex with someone else entirely, which is WHY he cuts her arms off. Thoughts?
2021: #181
Total reviewed for this sub: #396
TSPDT 1330, highest ranking 1163 in 2018; TSZDT 174, highest ranking 167 in 2018; Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky; Writer: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, Claudio Argento, Watched October 3rd on the Severin 4-Disc UHD/Blu-ray Limited Edition IMDB
123 minutes. If Jodorowsky (I heard him pronounce it on the commentary as “yodorovsky”) used his first three films to explore different journeys and how to reach enlightenment through eros, paternal storge, and a transcendent spirituality, then Freud would be happy to see how Santa Sangre leans heavily into the relationship with the mother.
On the surface this is a film about a boy who sees his mother lose her arms and decides to become her replacement arms which means standing behind her at all times letting her guide his every step. Unfortunately for this boy, Fenix, his mother has murderous revenge on her mind so he must wrestle with how far he will go to continue fighting her battles. There is striking surrealist visual poetry and impeccable set design throughout all while being Jodorowsky’s most linear narrative to date. Not linear for normal movies, just his most linear.
As Fenix (who is on a journey to rise from his mother’s ashes) wrestles with the murders his mother coerces him into, we see a growing sense of self and personal identity forming in the young lad. As happens, the influence of the mother reaches a breaking point when her ire turns to the woman Fenix has fallen in love with. His refusal to kill his beloved, and separation from his mother seems to be a phoenix moment both for his maturity into his own person as well as the passing of the torch from one woman’s love to another.
Knowing how much Jodorowsky loved Carl Jung I also can’t help but feel the time spent with his mother helped shape Fenix’s anima and he leaves her a more complete man. Through this lens, I actually think this is an important film to include as part of the original trilogy where Jodorowsky completes his thoughts on personal growth and maturity. We have seen young, passionate and violent love, paternal love and the journey to love oneself. The only missing piece to this self-reflective journey is the relationship with the mother. In literature and psychology, the relationship between the son and the mother has been picked apart to death but it shapes the way men view the world, love and fight. This is certai
... keep reading on reddit ➡I finally finished Castlevania on netflix and i would love to get my hands on the original artist’s artbook one day but i see on ebay that it’s being sold for at least $350+ 🥲 i mean it has been a decade since the art book was released but i see that as late as 2018 people have bought it from amazon for a decent price. Hopefully with the show being a success i hope that she or whoever manages those kinds of things would consider a reprint of something
the music video for necronomidol santa sangre/holy blood" seemed curious to me because of its similarities with saki
Will anyone be interested if I sell my original copy? As much as I love this artbook, I need to survive during this desperate times and I just thought it would be a band-aid solution until my family and I got back on our feet. I am in the Philippines btw and no one seems interested in Castlevania in my country 😅
The only issue being with the accompanying CD, Apple Music doesn't label the tracks - and they don't correspond to any other release of the OST to date. The highest number of tracks being a double LP's worth, and the remaining CD's having 16 tracks. Severin's release has only ten. This has not happened in previous 4k release like last year's Suspiria for example, so I'm somewhat disappointed, in an otherwise SUPERB edition. Any ideas?
I'd read somewhere that it was delayed to mid May but it is on its way!
They had originally told me that they hoped to start shipping these early to mid April, but my order is still processing when it releases Tuesday. Just wondering if anyone else has pre-ordered this and what the status of your order was?
Saw Django posted here last night and found a few more titles whilst browsing the site, great news for UK collectors
Honestly one of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen. I saw it for the 1st time a few days ago and have raved about it ever since. Introduces ideas such as childhood trauma, the Americanization of Mexico, literal sins of the father, mental illness and Oedipal complexities.
I love psychedelic and weird horror. Been putting this one off forever for some reason. Its a total experience, beautiful and horrific. You guys love it?
I watched this film last week for my 31 Nights of Horror. I'd heard of Alejandro Jodorowsky as "that guy who wanted Pink Floyd to do the soundtrack for Dune." And since I've been on a surreal horror kick (Suspiria, Inferno, Begotten), I decided to give him a try.
Holy shit. This is a masterpiece. I've seen few films, horror or otherwise, that cut into my soul like Santa Sangre did. It pulls no punches. Every color is vibrant, every line of dialogue is razor-sharp, every stab of a knife brings forth a geyser of blood. The characters are rich and often repulsive. The city streets they run down are full of life and death. Quiet moments of wonder alternate with disgusting scenes of sex and cruelty. And beneath it all is a very personal story about a lonely man's childhood trauma. This is a film in which all beauty is painful, and all pain is beautiful.
Santa Sangre is now the only thing I want to talk about with anyone. It will not leave my mind. I'll be doing the dishes or walking my dog and suddenly remember the hero reuniting with his childhood love, or the cultists chanting, "Holy blood! Holy blood!" as their temple is razed. And I can only react with a pensive sigh.
TSPDT 1330, highest ranking 1163 in 2018; TSZDT 174, highest ranking 167 in 2018; Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky; Writer: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, Claudio Argento, Watched October 3rd on the Severin 4-Disc UHD/Blu-ray Limited Edition IMDB
123 minutes. If Jodorowsky (I heard him pronounce it on the commentary as “yodorovsky”) used his first three films to explore different journeys and how to reach enlightenment through eros, paternal storge, and a transcendent spirituality, then Freud would be happy to see how Santa Sangre leans heavily into the relationship with the mother.
On the surface this is a film about a boy who sees his mother lose her arms and decides to become her replacement arms which means standing behind her at all times letting her guide his every step. Unfortunately for this boy, Fenix, his mother has murderous revenge on her mind so he must wrestle with how far he will go to continue fighting her battles. There is striking surrealist visual poetry and impeccable set design throughout all while being Jodorowsky’s most linear narrative to date. Not linear for normal movies, just his most linear.
As Fenix (who is on a journey to rise from his mother’s ashes) wrestles with the murders his mother coerces him into, we see a growing sense of self and personal identity forming in the young lad. As happens, the influence of the mother reaches a breaking point when her ire turns to the woman Fenix has fallen in love with. His refusal to kill his beloved, and separation from his mother seems to be a phoenix moment both for his maturity into his own person as well as the passing of the torch from one woman’s love to another.
Knowing how much Jodorowsky loved Carl Jung I also can’t help but feel the time spent with his mother helped shape Fenix’s anima and he leaves her a more complete man. Through this lens, I actually think this is an important film to include as part of the original trilogy where Jodorowsky completes his thoughts on personal growth and maturity. We have seen young, passionate and violent love, paternal love and the journey to love oneself. The only missing piece to this self-reflective journey is the relationship with the mother. In literature and psychology, the relationship between the son and the mother has been picked apart to death but it shapes the way men view the world, love and fight. This is certainly true for Fenix, and leads to a triumphant e
... keep reading on reddit ➡