Alejandro Jodorowsky is a singular figure in the history of world cinema. He's made just ten films over the past 60 years, but his influence is profoundly felt among filmmakers. He also has a cult following among moviegoers. Jodorowsky created the original 'midnight movie' with his hallucinogenic Western, "El Topo" in 1970. Jodorowsky is a visionary filmmaker like no other, although in terms of ambition he is akin to directors like Werner Herzog. Back in 1974, Jodorowsky was fresh from artistic success with his bizarre allegory, "The Holy Mountain." He was given the opportunity to direct any film of his choosing and he chose to adapt "Dune", a book he had never read, but had been described to him by a friend. Jodorowsky's "Dune" employed the talents of many top-notch artists of the time, including Moebius, H.R. Giger, Dan O'Bannon and would feature the acting of Mick Jagger, Orson Welles and Salvador Dali. Can you believe this? But alas, it would never come to be. This fascinating documentary manages to salvage some of the intoxicating design of the film's preproduction and give us salivating film fanatics a taste of what might have been. After watching this documentary, it is clear that the titular film ranks high on the list of movies that we wish we could have seen.
You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on the hypertext link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below:
