Set from the late 1940s and early 1950s in Santiago in the then-working class neighborhood of Matucana, the film is about Alejandro Jodorowsky’s time as a young teenager trying to find himself where he eventually becomes part of the bohemian culture where he finds his love for poetry and art while dealing with growing pains as a young man. It is a film that explore this man’s search for himself after having to leave his childhood home and live in this town where so much is happening after the events of World War II. Jodorowsky’s screenplay is loosely structured in the way it play into his own development from his time as a young teenager who feels stifled by the pressures of his family and eventually discovering a new home in the first act with the second act being about his first love and also finding friendship with another poet to the third act being about Jodorowsky gaining some success but political and social changes would emerge that would force him to flee Chile. It is a story in which Jodorowsky himself would appear as he reflects on these events but also in reconciling with the past including his relationship with his parents.
Jodorowsky’s direction is definitely stylish in not just its overall presentation that is shot on location at the Matucana neighborhood but also infusing it with actual locations and artificial sets. Notably as Jodorowsky opens the film in that neighborhood as it is in the mid-2010s and then transforms it through a mixture of backgrounds and such to show the neighborhood as it was in the late 1940s in his father’s shop where the teenage Alejandro works at where he reluctantly beats up a thief who was trying to steal clothes at his father’s shop. There is a lot of style that Jodorowsky would put into his direction as there would be actors covered in black clothing from head to toe who would serve as props to get a small object for a performer or scenes that play into this strange world that the young Jodorowsky would go into such as a bar that is filled with artists that often serves as a place of those who come to die as it is a place where Jodorowsky and his friends would frequent.
Serving as the film’s production designer with additional help from art directors Patricio Aguilar and Denise Lira-Ratinoff, Jodorowsky does create a world that is unique that play into the young Jodorowsky’s journey in the way the homes of the bohemian community including a few friends of Jodorowsky such as the poet Enrique Lihn (Leandro Taub) and his first lover in another poet in Stella Diaz Larin (Pamela Flores) although they’re portrayed in a fictional version. Jodorowsky’s usage of the wide and medium shots play into the world that his younger self would go into as well as some usage in the latter to play into some of the intimate moments. Jodorowsky also play into his own recollection about his time as a young adult where for all of its eccentricities and artistic rebellion. There was always a part of him that felt unfulfilled as the film’s ending does mirror the ending of its predecessor yet it also has Jodorowsky appear to express some regret over the things he never go to say or do. Overall, Jodorowsky crafts a rapturous yet whimsical film about his life as he comes of age into a young man who is trying to find himself.
Cinematographer Christopher Doyle does incredible work with the film’s vibrant and colorful cinematography as its usage of lighting to play up the colors in the daytime along with some unique lighting for some of the interiors at night as well as some of the exterior scenes as it is a highlight of the film. Editor Maryline Monthieux does excellent work with the editing as it has elements of style in the jump-cuts yet much of it is straightforward to play into the humor and drama. Costume designer Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky does fantastic work with the look of the clothes in the many costumes the young Jodorowsky and his friends wear as well as the look of Stella Diaz Larin.
Visual effects supervisor Felipe Astorga does nice work with the visual effects that is largely bits of set dressing that help play into the look of the city of what it looked like in the late 1940s/early 1950s. Sound editor Sandy Notarianni does superb work with the sound as it is largely straightforward as well as it play into the atmosphere of the locations as well as the way live music is presented in carnivals and such. The film’s music by Adan Jodorowsky does amazing work with the film’s score that is a mixture of circus-based music as well as some somber orchestral pieces to play into the sense of drama and reflection while the music soundtrack feature an array of standards and folk music of those times.
The casting by Roberto Matus A. and Roberto Matus is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Kaori Ito as the Japanese dancer Cana, Felipe Pena as the composer Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt, Bastian Bodenhofer as the famed Chilean leader Carlos Ibanez del Campo whose return to the country would force the young Jodorowsky to leave Chile, Montserrat Lopez and Patricia Pardo as two sisters who own a house for all of the starving artists to live in that includes the young Alejandro, Carolyn Carlson as an American tarot reader in Maria LeFevre, Julia Avendano as a dwarf-like woman in Pequenita who would become a lover for both Lihn and the young Jodorowsky, and Felipe Rios as the famed poet/physicist Nicanor Parra who was an idol for the young Jodorowsky as he would appear late in the film for some advice that the young Jodorowsky wouldn’t take. Leandro Taub is fantastic as the poet who would become a friend and collaborator of the young Jodorowsky as they would embark on things that would give them artistic inspiration.
Pamela Flores is excellent in a dual role as Alejandro’s mother Sara who often operatically sings her dialogue as she laments over her son while the other role is a fictionalized version of the poet Stella Diaz Larin who would become the young Jodorowsky’s muse and his first love as she gives him ideas for his poems. Jeremias Herskovits is superb in his small role as the teenage Jodorowsky as a young man just trying to figure himself out as he would eventually let out his anger during a visit to his relatives. Brontis Jodorowsky is brilliant as Jodorowsky’s father Jaime as a communist salesman who is trying to get his son to not endure failure as he disapproves his son becoming a poet while he has this great moment in the film’s final moments that play into a sense of regret and acceptance. Finally, there’s Adan Jodorowsky in an incredible performance as a young version of his father as he brings in a lot of innocence, energy, and charisma to play into a man trying to find himself but also lamenting over what to do next despite the gift that he has.
Poesia sin fin is a tremendous film from Alejandro Jodorowsky. Featuring a great ensemble cast, incredible visuals, amazing art direction, a compelling coming-of-age story, and a mesmerizing music score. The film is definitely an engaging and exhilarating film from Jodorowsky that is also one of his most accessible for a filmmaker that is known for making weird cult films. In the end, Poesia sin fin is a spectacular film from Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Alejandro Jodorowsky Films: La Cravate - Teatro sin fin - Fando y Lis - El Topo - The Holy Mountain - Tusk (1980 film) - Santa Sangre - The Rainbow Thief - The Dance of Reality - Psychomagic: A Healing Art
Related: Jodorowsky's Dune - The Auteurs #59: Alejandro Jodorowsky
© thevoid99 2022
(Played as Part of the Director’s Fortnight at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival)
Written and directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky that is based on his own novel, La danza de la realidad (The Dance of Reality) is the story of Jodorowsky’s own life living in a Chilean coastal town near the desert as he copes with his surroundings. A mixture of coming-of-age narratives mixed in with elements of surrealism, the film is an exploration of a boy who deals with the world around him as well as his own family. Starring Brontis Jodorowsky, Adan Jodorowsky, Jeremias Herskovits, Pamela Flores, and Cristobal Jodorowsky. La danza de la realidad is a visually-astonishing and enchanting film from Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Set in the small Chilean coastal town of Tocopilla during the 1930s, the film revolves around the life of a young Alejandro Jodorowsky who tells his own life story about his childhood and life with his parents. With Jodorowsky appearing as himself and provide commentary about moments in his young life, it is a coming-of-age story where the young Alejandro (Jeremias Herskovits) deals with not just becoming a man but also in finding himself as he is raised by his strict, Communist father Jaime (Brontis Jodorowsky playing his grandfather) and his kind and graceful mother Sara (Pamela Flores). Jodorowsky’s screenplay doesn’t just create a surreal interpretation of his own childhood where he admittedly does embellish things a bit for dramatic purposes.
At the heart of the story is young Alejandro’s relationship with his parents where the boy deals with the two sides of what they believe. Jaime, who is a Ukrainian-Jewish man, is a firefighter who tries to prove his bravery and masculinity where he would eventually go into a major character arc for the film’s second half. An arc that would lead to a journey of his own as it relates to humanity and faith while the young Alejandro spends time with his mother as he copes with his own fears. Especially in the third act as doesn’t just deal with the loss of a friend from the film’s first half but also in the prejudice and ridicule his father faces for who he is. It would be a moment where father and son finally come together but also a moment that would be crucial to Alejandro’s own upbringing and view into the world.
Jodorowsky’s direction is spellbinding in not just for the fact that he shoots the film on location in Tocopilla as well as other parts of Chile. While some of the imagery and the way he portrays the town and such is definitely inspired by the works of Federico Fellini. Jodorowsky’s take on Fellini is more in the line of surrealism as well as creating something that is odd in some of the characters that the young Alejandro would encounter. Especially as it plays into that idea of faith and whether God exists or not along with questions of identity in not just the young Alejandro but also in Jaime. Jodorowsky’s usage of wide and medium shots capture the town of Tocopilla as it is a character of its own in a world that is very rural and ordinary but also has a sense of life in its colors and a few ceremonies where Jodorowsky does create something that is lavish but also very homegrown.
The direction also play into these gorgeous images as it relates to the world the characters encounter whether it is a scene involving people infested by the plague or a contest for dogs wearing costumes. It adds to a world that is strange but also somewhat disconnected in what Jaime sees in the latter where he would try to kill Chile’s then-president but has a plan that would eventually shape his view on humanity. Even as Jodorowsky knows when to not go for anything weird but also be confrontational in the reality that is seen as it relates to people who are poor and feeling disenfranchised. Still, Jodorowsky displays a sense of hope that Jaime and young Alejandro would encounter but also a melancholia that the old Alejandro would feel towards the film’s ending as it play into what he faced in his childhood. Overall, Jodorowsky creates a rapturous yet heart wrenching film of a boy coming of age in Depression-era Chile.
Cinematographer Jean-Marie Dreujou does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography in the way many of the colors are captured in many of the film‘s locations along with some gorgeous lighting for some scenes set at night. Editor Maryline Monthieux does excellent work with the editing in its usage of jump-cuts and other stylish cuts to play into some of the drama and strange moments in the film. Art director Alisarine Ducolomb does fantastic work with the look of some of the sets including the shop Jaime runs as well as some of the look of the town and places that the characters would encounter. Costume designer Pascale Montandon-Jodorowsky does brilliant work with the costumes from the blue-like suit that young Alejandro wears to the very straight-laced clothes of his father along with some of the lavish clothes in the strange characters they would encounter.
Visual effects supervisor Ekkarat Rodthong does superb work with the visual effects in creating moments that add to some of the mystical and surreal elements of the film that the young Alejandro would encounter. Sound editor Sandy Notarianni does terrific work with a lot of the sound work that is presented on film including some of the raucous moments as well as the eerie scenes where Jaime works as a horse groomer for the president. The film’s music by Adan Jodorowsky is wonderful for its mixture of ambient and folk-based music to play into the world of Chile while music supervisor Jon Handelsman creates a soundtrack that includes some of the music that was played during the Depression as well as some classical pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The film’s incredible cast include some notable small roles from composer Adan Jodorowsky as an anarchist who wants to kill the president that Jaime knows, Cristobal Jodorowsky as a strange philosopher named Theosophist who would give the young Alejandro some ideas about faith, Andres Cox as the president’s horse groomer Don Aquiles that Jaime would befriend and learn from, Sergio Vargas as an old carpenter Jaime would meet and find hope in, and Bastian Bodenhofer in an excellent performance as Carlos Ibanez del Campo as Chile’s then-right wing President who is seen as this cruel leader until Jaime sees an unexpected display of humanity that would trouble him. Jeremias Herskovitz is brilliant as the young Alejandro as a boy trying to find his identity as well as deal with his father’s demands along with elements of faith and reality. Pamela Flores is fantastic as Alejandro’s mother Sara as this woman who always sings whatever dialogue she is given as she is this woman of faith who shows her son the ways of the world where there is hope. Finally, there’s Brontis Jodorowsky in a sensational performance as his grandfather Jaime as a communist eager to prove his worth where he is tested by his own will only to deal with the realities he encounters as it’s a performance that requires a lot as Brontis delivers and more.
La danza de la realidad is a spectacular film from Alejandro Jodorowsky. Featuring a great cast that include his own sons including Brontis playing his grandfather as well as dazzling visuals and touching themes on the idea of family and growing up. The film is definitely strange in terms of the surrealism that Jodorowsky puts in but it’s also very accessible in how he puts in a lot of personal touches to a story that means a lot to him. In the end, La danza de la realidad is a tremendously ravishing film from Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Alejandro Jodorowsky Films: La Cravate - Teatro sin fin - Fando y Lis - El Topo - The Holy Mountain - Tusk (1980 film) - Santa Sangre - The Rainbow Thief - Endless Poetry - Psychomagic: a Healing Art
Related: Jodorowsky's Dune - The Auteurs #59: Alejandro Jodorowsky
© thevoid99 2016
