Many symbols, Many mediums - Alejandro Jodorowsky

Born in Chile in 1929, A. Jodorowsky is a kind of octopus artist who spread his tentacles to drill the universe and all his components. Each tentacle is a different art discipline, differents mediums he uses to show what we can't or won't see. He imagines some universe stuffed of symbols from mythologies, religions, philosophies...He tries to interprete reality by other sides.  As he said : "Reality is not scientific. Part of reality is what we think is reality. Part of the other's personnality is what we project on it. »

Born to Jewish Ukrainian parents in Chile, Jodorowsky experienced an unhappy and alienated childhood, and so immersed himself in reading and writing poetry.

Later he discovered theater and circus, working as a clown before founding his own troup : the theatro mimico in 1947. He arrived in France in the 50's and studied mime under Etienne Decroux and works especially with Marcel Marceau.

In the 60's he was a member of the anarchistic Avant-garde Panic movement of performance artists.

He also started to became a prolific comic books writer from 1970's with The Incal, a graphic novel draw by Moebius . The Incal (which would branch off into a prequel and sequel) forms the first in a sequence of several science fiction comic book series, all set in the same space universe (or "Metabarons Universe") published by Humanoids Publishing. Other action comics by Jodorowsky outside the genre of science fiction include in particular the western  Bouncer illustrated by Francois Boucq, the prophetic Juan Solo (Son of the Gun) and The White Lama, both illustrated by Georges Bess. From 70's to 2012, Jodorowsky creates 23 different series of comic books .

As a film maker he directed 10 film, but he's best known for 2 of his avant-garde films. These are the western  El Topo (1970)  and the surrealist film  The Holy Mountain (1973) who's the only one i saw. He has been venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts for his work which is « filled with violently surreal images and a hybrid blend of mysticism and religious provocation. »

For the story : in 1974, Jodorowsky decided to adapted the science fiction novel of Franck Herbert Dune  on cinema. He worked on it with Franck Herbert and the french illustrator Jean giraud (Moebius), but the production for the film collapsed, and the rights for filming were sold. The American filmmaker David Lynch  been employed to create the film Dune in 1984. In the role of the Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, Jodorowsky planned to cast the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí, who requested a fee of $100,000 per hour. He also planned to cast Orson Welles as the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and the music would be composed by Pink Floyd...so bad to know that when we watch again what Lynch did to it...

I want to write more about Jodorowsky but there are too much things to say about this man who crossed time and arts, and will never stop to do it.

There some things you can agree or not with him, but he always wakes us up and makes us think...


Louis Cailliau.