The film marks Jorodowsky's first film in twenty-three years. In early 2011, Jodorowsky scouted for locations at his childhood village in Chile. Jodorowsky received permission from the local Chilean government to shoot in the coming spring. In late August, he held a forum with the locals to discuss his vision for the film. By June 2012, Jodorowsky, as well as his sons Brontis, Adán, and Cristóbal, grandson Jeremías Herskovits, Pamela Flores, Bastián Bodenhöfer, and Andrés Cox were cast. At the same time, with a budget of $3 million, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in August 2013. Filming took place in Tocopilla in the Antofagasta Region, in the north of Chile. The film was shot digitally, on the Red Epic camera with Angenieux Optimo Lenses, the first for Jodorowsky. In January 2013, Brontis stated that the film was in post-production and would be finished by March, saying the film is "very different from the other films that he made". The film blends Jodorowsky's personal history with metaphor, mythology and poetry, reflecting the director's view that reality is not objective but rather a "dance" created by our imaginations. Jodorowsky has expressed his ambivalence towards the film industry and its focus on making money and claimed he did not want to "make money but rather lose money" in the making of this film, asking for it to be funded purely through donations.
The film stars Jodorowsky, as well as his sons Brontis, Adán, and Cristóbal, grandson Jeremías Herskovits, Pamela Flores, Bastián Bodenhöfer, and Andrés Cox. The cast has ample affection for outcasts and much to say about religious hypocrisy. A surreal circus of invention, pretension and astonishment that, like many carnivals, touts the talents of its performers but knows most customers came to gawk at the freaks.
While it's not especially easy viewing, and unquestionably not for all tastes, The Dance of Reality is exhilarating, challenging, enigmatic and distressing, but entirely rewarding and entertaining. Whether or not this is the most accessible of Jodorowsky's films, it is certainly the most accessible "Jodorowksy film," a vision filled with circus imagery, surreal scenes, and grotesque violence. Drawing on his training in mime and his fascination with Gnosticism, Jodorowsky converted a story about his early life into a grand work of art, full of symbols and imagery that reach beyond language to something primal and original. What's probably most amazing about the film is that most of it works, and almost never does it feel like it's being unsettling just for the sake of it. A trip that was calculated carefully, the near constant use of slightly off-key circus music adding to its hypnotic quality. More extravagant, but less controlled than his infamous allegorical western, El Topo (1970).
While it's not especially easy viewing, and unquestionably not for all tastes, The Dance of Reality is exhilarating, challenging, enigmatic and distressing, but entirely rewarding and entertaining. Whether or not this is the most accessible of Jodorowsky's films, it is certainly the most accessible "Jodorowksy film," a vision filled with circus imagery, surreal scenes, and grotesque violence. Drawing on his training in mime and his fascination with Gnosticism, Jodorowsky converted a story about his early life into a grand work of art, full of symbols and imagery that reach beyond language to something primal and original. What's probably most amazing about the film is that most of it works, and almost never does it feel like it's being unsettling just for the sake of it. A trip that was calculated carefully, the near constant use of slightly off-key circus music adding to its hypnotic quality. More extravagant, but less controlled than his infamous allegorical western, El Topo (1970).
Simon says The Dance of Reality (La Danza de la Realidad) receives:
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