Anchor Bay: Alejandro Jodorowsky

[vogler]

Well, that's true as well. I've been in cinemas with dual-projector setups where it's been obvious when they've switched projectors, as the colour temperature visibly alters.

Fair enough, there may be slight differences with different projectors. What I meant though, and perhaps I didn't phrase it very well, is that a projectionist can't alter the colours of a film he is projecting in the way that you can instantly alter the colours with digital video. Would that be correct? I'm not talking about using filters etc. though.

[vogler]

Screen captures of the Anchor Bay Fando y Lis.

[Tommaso]

Well, again practically identical to the Tartan caps. Perhaps the Tartan is very slightly sharper, but that may be due to the different set-ups and hardware used. I assume it's save to say there is little to no difference between these two sets, then. And any hope that the Tartan "Fando" might less suffer imagewise is gone.... Thanks for the good work, Vogler, at least no-one now has to buy the much more expensive Tartan only for the hope of getting a better image.

[vogler]

at least no-one now has to buy the much more expensive Tartan only for the hope of getting a better image.

The only thing I'm wondering is if motion is rendered better on the Tartan Fando y Lis. I'm not wondering too much though because I'm happy with the Fantoma. On a very superficial level I prefer the packaging of the Anchor Bay. I'll be sticking with Anchor Bay and the Fantoma.

[Gigi M.]

Pics from R2 Spanish edition. Everything appears to be same as R1, except Fando and Lis, which in this set is 1.66 - 16:9.

[Rich Malloy]

Wow, I rather like the artwork, and certainly prefer it to the Anchor Bay (which - at least - is a tad better than their Bava set). Hopefully, we'll see this set reviewed and compared against the others at some point. I'm very interested.

Thanks for posting that, Gigi M.

[HerrSchreck]

Has anybody been able to figure out where the "on camera interview with AJ" is on the Anchor disc of HOLY MOUNTAIN? Its an advertised extra on the disc, and furchrissakes I can't find the fucking thing anywhere no matter how many eggy tricks I try...

anyone?

[Tommaso]

Has anybody been able to figure out where the "on camera interview with AJ" is on the Anchor disc of HOLY MOUNTAIN? Its an advertised extra on the disc, and furchrissakes I can't find the fucking thing anywhere no matter how many eggy tricks I try...

I guess they were a little sloppy and simply copied and pasted the 'features' section from the cover of the "El Topo" disc. Note that they don't mention the deleted scenes and that piece on the Tarot on the "Holy Mountain" sleeve. I guess you have to rely on the audio commentary for HM. But that Tarot film is a great replacement in my view. I'm a little interested in the topic generally, and I have the feeling that Jodo is one of the few commentators who got things right (he also wrote a book on the Tarot in 2004, but it's only available in French, damn...). Extremely illuminating regarding how short that little piece is.

[HerrSchreck]

You're right, Tom. I found not only that Tarot piece, but the commentary in general-- which, given the obscure, and obviously very personal/symbolic nature of the film (HOLY MT) was something I only intended on dipping into in parts seeking mere explanation-- to be not only insightful, entertaining, and educational... but totally fucking enlightening on a spiritual level. It was a total unexpected delight, and by the end of 24 hours I'd sucked up the commentary and all the extra features... whereas the majority of my CC's & MoC's have commentary tracks that are totally unlistened-to (not to mentioned WB & FOX stuff, etc).

I'm not the biggest Jodo fan in the world, and I didn't even grab the whole box, but HOLY M is a genuinely great film that I've been waiting for for ages on a good dvd. I expected a lightly annoying commentary-- Jodo has all the psychological hallmarks of a crackpot burnout... externalization and showy amped-up aping of internal processes & investigations that work best in quiet and in solitude etc etc. But the man is full of good humor, real insight, lack of self-serious grandiosity, total non-burnout/non-hippie-headed clearmindedness, lack of Big Ego... and, I don't hesitate to say, real wisdom. I totally fucking admire the man for his guts (always did) and artistic vision (always did), but almost more than anything, his surprising simplicity and rare insight. Cats who dabble in so much of the mystical & ritualistic side of myths & "isms"-- and take them on as real religious practice, often all at once-- turn out to be useless artists and real dickheads. AJ is quite a dude and a major exception to that rule.

[Tommaso]

As happens often, I couldn't have put it better, Schrecko. But it's sad to hear that you didn't buy the whole box, not just for the other films, but especially for the "Constellation Jodorowsky" documentary (unless you either have the old "Fando" disc or the R2 "Santa Sangre"). Seeing that docu really convinced me of Jodo's intelligence and insight. It is very easy to dismiss his films as a slightly artsy variant of Italian horror or western films on speed, but there's so much more to them and to the man who created them. But the "real wisdom" you're talking about seems to have come with time only. In the docu, there's this story he tells from the early 70s when he was visited by someone who said he was coming for illumination, and Jodo reports how he started to give all sorts of 'spiritual' advice until his visitor told him he wanted his advice on how to illuminate a theatre stage... So the self-grandiosity and inflation of the ego might have been there at that time, but now seems to have been replaced by real insight (which doesn't mean he didn't have that insight on a more 'technical' level when he made "El Topo" and HM).
I didn't even manage to listen to the audio commentary on both these films, but what we see in the films alone was sufficient to convince me of a very thoughtful mind, who only manipulates and shocks to make people aware of that manipulation. The end of HM is priceless in this regard.

Coming back to the HM disc itself, I was absolutely astonished by the restoration demonstration. It's unbelievable how bad these films looked before, and what can obviously now be done in the field of colour grading etc. especially in the light of the recent discussion here about faded prints or Japanese colour vs American colour. Having seen this, there is now absolutely no excuse for blaming the print quality for wrong colours, Everything can be fixed, and abominations like "Dersu Uzala" need not happen.

[Lino]

As happens often, I couldn't have put it better, Schrecko. But it's sad to hear that you didn't buy the whole box, not just for the other films, but especially for the "Constellation Jodorowsky" documentary...

... and also for the equally great audio commentary he gives on El Topo. Made me love the movie even more. Jodorowsky is an enlightened man but he keeps it real all the time. Plus he has a sense of humour about himself and the world around him that is priceless. That's why I love him so much.

[Toxicologist]

Coming back to the HM disc itself, I was absolutely astonished by the restoration demonstration. It's unbelievable how bad these films looked before

Absolutely!! I always thought the Japanese DVD editions were an improvement over the Raro editions but seeing these new restorations just makes you realise how bad they really are in comparison.
The only redeeming feature and why i won't ever part with my Japanese Boxset is the 73 min interview with Jodorowsky in which many of the qualities Herrschreck referred to are very apparent in the way he comes across.

[Rich Malloy]

I agree with everything that has been said about the Anchor Bay El Topo and Holy Mountain discs. They look unbelievably good, especially after years of watching dreadful bootleg tapes and the awful Raro discs. I can't wait to listen to the soundtrack CDs as well - Don Cherry was involved with the Holy Mountain soundtrack. As for La Cravate, I can hardly believe it's included here. I never thought I'd see that one.

However, for those who own the Fantoma DVD of Fando & Lis, do not sell it!. I'm very glad I kept mine. The Anchor Bay looks appalling in comparison. Movement looks terrible and the image breaks up into a pixel ridden mess. I can't work out why it's so much worse than the Fantoma. Incidentally, I think Fando & Lis is probably my favourite Jodorowsky film and I can't understand why so many people consider it to be a lesser work than the other two included here.

Here is a comparison.

Fantoma


Anchor Bay


What the hell happened?

Well, I still don't know what happened, but I did manage to track down a copy of Fantoma's "Fando y Lis" to replace the one that I'd unfortunately sold in anticipation of this set. Not a bad deal either, as it was a "disc-only" situation having been purchased used from Netflix (there's the Netflix "used DVD" case, but I intended to switch it out with the AB disc in the boxset anyway). Lost out on the lobby card reproduction.

But here's the thing... yes, there are some obvious problems with the AB disc as can be seen in the many caps floating around, and particularly bad right off the bat with the lines from the hand-drawn opening titles wavering like crazy, all the horizontal ones breaking up almost like combing in an improperly converted PAL/NTSC disc... but even given all those obvious faults, I think I prefer the AB transfer. I should probably watch them both, all the way through and back-to-back, but given a fairly good A:B direct comparison, I think I'll stick with the AB version.

If anyone's interested in the Fantoma DVD (disc-only, in a used Netflix case, unscratched and otherwise in great condition), I'd be willing to trade or sell it for what I paid ($12).

[Tommaso]

but even given all those obvious faults, I think I prefer the AB transfer. I should probably watch them both, all the way through and back-to-back, but given a fairly good A:B direct comparison, I think I'll stick with the AB version.

Interesting. Can you explain a little what it is in the AB transfer that makes it superior for you?