The Dance of Reality (2014)

[K1stpierre]

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[Jake Gittes]

There might not be another film in 2014 that is so loaded with history behind it. First, there's the history of Alejandro Jodorowsky the filmmaker, the 85-year-old cult figure in the artworld who's only made 7 films in just under 50 years, with most of his reputation relying on two (El Topo and The Holy Mountain). Second, there's the history of Jodorowsky the man, who spent an unhappy, abusive childhood in 1930s Chile and only now decided to have an ultimate confrontation with his past by making a film out of it. Third, there's the history of the whole Latin America in the same decade, which inescapably becomes a major part of the film's foundation.

 

Despite all that weight, and the movie essentially being a 2-hour act of personal therapy, The Dance of Reality is not just Jodorowsky's best film by far (and his first truly great film); it's one of the most playful, imaginative and hilarious films made by anyone in recent years, masking its lack of conventional structure by simply laying a great scene on top of a great scene, all of them filled with so many ideas that I could have happily sat there for another few hours. On the way out, a friend remarked that to him, the movie felt almost like an unintentional adaptation of Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude; I have yet to read that novel, but, with what I heard about it over the years, the comparison doesn't surprise me at all. Considering the story he's telling, Jodorowsky could have made a darker, more serious and blunt film; perhaps his 40-year-old version would have done exactly that. I'm happy he waited this long, because the film, while appropriately serious when needed, is the most joyous experience I've had in the cinema this year. It'll be hard for it to be beaten.