The Dance of Reality (2014)

An Exercise In Nonsense

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Actually, "Dance Of Reality" is the first Jodorowsky film that i watched and i am speechless or i should say absorbed completely by his mesmerizing cinema. I don't know why but i was teary during some scenes even though they had no resemblance to my life. The metaphors he used, the symbolism or allegoric substances he portrayed throughout his film are phenomenal and top notch. This director is insane but amazing, every scene sings a new song and has multiple interpretations. Its not a film that i would recommend to anyone but for those who have a taste for good but weird cinema, give it a try you will not be disappointed. Direction is perfect, background score is superb. Performances are breathtaking. However some video effects were not that good but since it's a art film, one could neglect that aspect.Watch it, understand it, feel it. After all its Jodorowsky's Cinema. Brutal, surreal, funny and satirical. 10 out of 10

The film sets up a style of the director himself literally embracing his younger self and talking to the camera and his younger self in the midst of things going on. Add to this his comical intense cruel-to-be- kind, father and his mother who sings all her dialog and you have a unique narrative that is funny strange and compelling for the first third of the film. But then the story shifts to only the dad's story taking care of a horse and this section bogs down, as other sections tend to whenever the older and younger self aren't part of the action at all. And mom's singing gets a little tiresome as well though her singing voice is very good. Music in the film is uniformly fine. Then you get into some graphic nudity, urination and torture scenes, all of which seem to go on forever, and I fell out of love with it.But it's almost redeemed by a final section where finally the older and younger director/character return for a farewell scene involving a dock and a boat. If this does turn out to be his last film it's one of the great film exits in history.So it's too bad the script loses focus right in the middle and that the whole thing feels way too long. Might be a film that plays better if you don't watch it all in one sitting.Visuals are typically vivid but now have a video quality that the HD "photography" that is distracting at first when comparing the richer film colors of his earlier work.A worthy film that unfortunately can't sustain a strong first third.

If you're familiar with Jodorowsky's films ('The Holy Mountain' / 'El Topo') you are already aware that your chances of fully understanding the menagerie he presents is futile; whole books can and have been written in an effort to deconstruct his symbolism and celebrate his imagery. It's very easy to focus on the humor and find distraction in the surrealism of his films – that was always the initial draw for me - but his ambitions are of substance with meanings often relevant only to the director himself. The seed of this film is an autobiographical story of Jodorowsky's early childhood in the isolated coastal city of Topopilla, Chile where he experienced alienation as a displaced Ukrainian Jew. Jodorowsky insists that reality is a subjective concept and he immediately describes his setting as a circus with an overbearing father who dresses as Stalin and a mother whose lines are entirely delivered in operatic sing-song.The film is as much about his father's journey through life as it is his own and the performances are so passionate and over-the-top that, along with his vivid pallet of colors, there is a 'cartoon' quality to the experience. All whimsy aside, this is one of his most cohesive narratives and he refers to 'The Dance of Reality' (his first film in 23 years) as a therapeutic endeavor – or 'psychomagic' – intended to heal residual, family-related psychological distress. Films made for an audience of one will always be a challenge but it's an absolute privilege to be allowed a peek into the mind of such a unique artist.

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.