The Dance of Reality (2014)

[Blocker]

Produced and directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, THE DANCE OF REALITY is his first film in 23 years. The legendary filmmaker was born in 1929 in Tocopilla, a coastal town on the edge of the Chilean desert where the film was shot. It was there that Jodorowsky underwent an unhappy and alienated childhood as part of an uprooted family. Blending his personal history with metaphor, mythology and poetry, The Dance of Reality reflects Alejandro Jodorowsky's philosophy that reality is not objective but rather a "dance" created by our own imaginations.

[SealLion]

I'lll explain why this fellow, Alejandro, is so far out to lunch it's actually laughable. He is part of this idea called 'phsycomagic'. Apparantly, he hails himself as a representative of teachings of religion, spirituality, and pshycology. (Well, he's definitly not my representative).
And then he wants to mold them into imaginative endeavors. Oh wow. Can he actually mold them into the flying-spagetti-monster?

The he also labels himself as an athestic-mystic. You, know, I have such a challenging time trying to make sense of this guy's cogitative functions that I can't make heads or tails of it. What a juxtaposition, if I ever came across one!!
It really makes me scratch my head over it.
Firstly, mysticism, according to dictionary.com is "characterized by some esoteric, otherworldly, or symbolic practices or content, as certain religious ceremonies and art". In other words, it's some fruit-cake who believes in some knowledge that is mysterious and that rewards him with spiritual ecstasy. Kind of like eating Scooby Snacks.

I have a better idea. Why not just start worshipping His Noodliness and ask the Holy Sauce to give us our Pasta.

As for labeling himself as an aetheist. The only thing that I understand about him labeling himself as an atheist is that an atheist is someone who refuses to believe in any sort of deity. But not someone who also believes in some spritualism. Like I say, that's some juxtaposition. Most atheists have a scientific worldview.
So for this Psycomagic that he believes in, ya...I really don't know.

Then, and this is only the start, apparantly, he tried to do a version of Dune. Frank Herbert, who wrote that book found out that around 2 of the over 9 million dollars for that film had been spent on just pre-production alone!
Eventually, the production for that film collapsed and the filming rights were given over to someone more competent.

And this kind of filming is all from someone who believes in tarot divination. You know,... those kind of folks who try to make pocket change or for finding the rent shortfall by fortune-telling.

[slikrapid]

The Dance of Reality reflects Alejandro Jodorowsky's philosophy that reality is not objective but rather a "dance" created by our own imaginations.

what we perceive as 'reality' is an 'illusion of our senses' - a concept known to eastern philosophies for thousands of years, has been waiting for jodorowsky so he can add his own spin/distortion to it and claim as his own original idea?

Basically the first part of the movie is a magical realist version of Jodo's childhood.... and the movie becomes a kind of exorcism of the hard asshole'ish macho-part of his dictatorial father - the movie gives the father-character the journey of learning he never had in real life, making him a better wiser man that real-life Jodorowsky is able to make (symbolic) peace with. Anyway, this may sound like a lot of nonsense

of course its nonsense on many levels:
- his version of his own childhood is not objective (unable to grasp the whole picture, only partial elements and only personal impressions of it), its a partial, somewhat distorted, hazy recollection of things
- a cinematographic exorcism/re-education/setting-straight of one's own parent? - shows that the director is having some serious mental issues if he has a need to engage in such activities
- the virtual father is learning something, becoming a better virtual father, with virtual rewards,... really?
- the thing is: the director is not satisfied with reality (or his place in it or his influence on the unfolding events) so he attempts to make himself feel better through creating imaginary cinematographic 'realities', where he can finally take command and control, arranging things/people/events as he, the now almighty cinematic god-director, sees fit in his finite semi-insanity
- the irony here is that jodorowsky is practicing psychotherapy/psychology as a job/business, whereas from the above mentioned seems he is actually the one in need of some serious? therapy
- and finally, our 'wise' & 'advanced' societies scientifically concluded that people like him are some kind of masterful cinematic visionaries, proving evolutionary progress, leading the way ... just don't ask where to, eh?

this fellow, Alejandro, is so far out to lunch it's actually laughable.

well, thats what they call 'high art': numerous artificially constructed, often convoluted, scenarios/images/scenes that have certain elements in common, often ambiguous and hidden, while carrying one or more ideas/messages/views - these directors want to appear mysterious, knowledgeable, skilled and whatnot, whereas its just a game of creating little audio/visual puzzles, getting many interpretations from various expert reviewers (which make them even more confusing), reaping the fruits thereof, whereas the actual viewers may end up impressed with the outcome, but probably none the wiser in the process

The he also labels himself as an athestic-mystic...an atheist is someone who refuses to believe in any sort of deity. But not someone who also believes in some spritualism. Like I say, that's some juxtaposition. Most atheists have a scientific worldview.

could be explained by: spiritual as far as science recognizes spirituality (or some of its parts/elements) to be a genuine phenomenon, mystic as far as elements recognized by psychology, but then again atheists also believe (in 'nature', 'natural laws', 'science', 'ideology', 'materialism',... ie. those represent their version of god or the divine)

apparantly, he tried to do a version of Dune...Eventually, the production for that film collapsed and the filming rights were given over to someone more competent.

which was a good decision since on one hand 'dune' that was made ended up being pretty good, whereas jodorowsky's version would have likely ended up being a mess like his 'famous': 'holy mountain' & 'el topo'

Psychomagic is the name of a therapeutic practice used by Alejandro Jodorowsky. The technique is alleged to be useful in psychotherapy. It combines art, Eastern philosophies (particularly Zen Buddhism), mysticism and modern psychotherapy to allegedly heal patients with emotional problems. The principle relies on the belief that the unconscious mind takes a symbolic act as a fact. So a symbolic act could accordingly help solve some types of non rational conflicts. These acts are prescribed by the therapist after having studied the patient's personality and family tree.

seems like a fancy name for the usual psychotherapy, some medical data, 'enhanced' by a number of other hard-to-assess techniques (in terms of their usefulness and what they actually do), thus one may expect relatively similar results to those of psychotherapy and a hefty price-tag for the rest

anyways, here's a free solution: 'a little less hollywood' every day keeps the weirdo psychologist away hehe