A mere 23 years after his last feature, Chilean surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, The Holy Mountain) returns to the screen, older and yes, possibly wiser. The loony-goony visuals are still in play, but there's a sympathy for the audience, a desire to put things to good and even meaningful use. You may find yourself playing along despite yourself: well sure his mom strips and wanders into the sailor's bar to demonstrate cultural invisibility. Seems right. After an opening rumination on the nature of money (perhaps he had trouble getting financing?), the film turns into an evocative memoir: Jodorowsky looking back on his boyhood in the coastal town of Tocopilla. The dramatic weight falls mostly on Dad's (Brontis Jodorowsky) hard shoulders: Dad the tyrannical atheist disciplinarian, Dad the communist Jewish immigrant, Dad the revolutionary assassin, Dad the pilgrim far from home. Special viewing bonus: genital electrocution! (2013) — Matthew Lickona
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