The Holy Mountain (1973): You and I are gonna live forever.
Your Friend says: “What did you do last night?”
You respond: “Got weird and watched The Holy Mountain.”
Yes, This will be exactly what you tell someone after watching this film. I’ll take a stab at explaining the plot. So, it’s about this Jesus look alike guy known as “the thief” who after falling into some bad luck is befriended by a limbless dwarf. (Please note: This character makes me very uncomfortable and sad). They’re paling around one day when they witness gold descend upon the city from a mystery tower. Being curious, the thief ventures inside the tower to find the gold’s origin. Once inside he finds a character known as the alchemist and his tattooed assistant. With their guidance the thief learns that he can turn his own shit into gold. Yes, they show this whole glorious process.
The rest of the film follows the thief, the alchemist and their seven companions (each companion representing an astrological planet) journey to gain the secret of immortality on a holy mountain. There is tons of insane imagery throughout this movie: some beautiful, some gnarly but all interesting. I have read that in preparation for the film the central cast members and the director took mushrooms and LSD and lived in a commune together. Method acting at it’s best! Tom Cruise, you should be taking notes. It is above all visually stunning work of artistic genius.
WARNING: This film contains scenes of animal cruelty.
[From Untitled]