Alejandro Jodorowsky Surreal Film Posters
A gallery of 23 surreal film posters / promo artwork
The Holy Mountain (1973) French Poster
In the 1970s, Chilean-born filmmaker + surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky was engaged in the “midnight movie” phenomenon with his underground hit El Topo (1970) and his self indulgent 1974 spectacle The Holy Mountain spearheading the way. Jodorowsky made strange, alchemical films that dealt with spirituality, mysticism, and religious provocation. Jodorowsky struck notable success with his surreal spaghetti western El Topo, whilst winning the attention and acclaim of John Lennon and George Harrison — Lennon and Yoko Ono would later put up production money for Jodoowsky’s follow up The Holy Mountain. (Holy Mountain had an estimated budget of $750,000; El Topo $400,000).
With vague narratives and extravagant visuals, the viewer will either hate or praise these two films. Personally, The Holy Mountain and El Topo remain two of my favorite films. Sure, they’re flawed and slow at times, but they’re films that defy classification and belong to a select group of films that are the surrealist cinema movement of the 1960s-1970s.
Jodorowsky’s poster art truly is remarkable; alchemy, symbolism, strong use of color, and a dash of violently surreal imagery, these posters are ephemeral and exclusive to their period. Continue reading this article to view 22 more Alejandro Jodorowsky film posters +/ artwork. Films include The Holy Mountain, El Topo, Santa Sangre, Fando y Lis, and even concept art for Dune, a film Jodorowsky was booked to direct, but never did.
Alejandro Jodorowsky Filmography:
La Cravate aka The Severed Heads (1957) short
Fando y Lis (1968) feature
El Topo (1970) feature
The Holy Mountain (1973) feature
Tusk (1980) feature
Santa Sangre (1989) feature
The Rainbow Thief (1990) feature
We covered Jodorowsky’s introduction; now we’ll look at the fantastic poster art / artwork for Jodorowsky’s films.
The Holy Mountain (1973)
The Holy Mountain Italian Poster
The Holy Mountain German Poster
The Holy Mountain French Poster
The Holy Mountain Laserdisc Artwork
The Holy Mountain Japanese Poster
The Holy Mountain Japanese VHS Artwork
El Topo (1970)
El Topo (1970) Italian Poster
El Topo French Poster
El Topo Italian Poster
El Topo UK Poster
El Topo Promo Postcard
El Topo Press Poster
El Topo Italian One Sheet Poster
El Topo UK VHS Artwork
El Topo French Mini Poster
El Topo French Poster
Santa Sangre (1989)
Santa Sangre (1986) German Poster
Santa Sangre US Poster
Santa Sangre US Poster
Fando y Lis (1968)
Fando y Lis Polish Reproduction Art Print
Dune
Concept art for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Dune
Jodorowsky was the second director slated to direct the sci-fi blockbuster Dune (1984) — during 1974, the budget is reported as being either 9.5 million or 20 million, depending on the source.
Senses of Cinema on Jodorowsky’s botched attempt to direct Dune:
Following The Holy Mountain, Jodorowsky began work on freely adapting and directing a film version of Frank Herbert’s epic space opera, Dune. The expensive international co-production was to have starred Brontis Jodorowsky as the messianic hero and featured Orson Welles, Gloria Swanson, David Carradine, Udo Kier, Dalila Di Lazzaro and Salvador Dali. Each of the planets in the film was to be designed by a different artist to reflect different cultures; the spaceships were designed to look like organic, semi-living creatures. Jean “Moebius” Giraud, H.R. Giger, Dan O’Bannon and Christopher Foss became part of the creative team. Pink Floyd was signed to write most of the film’s music. After a year of preproduction, the film’s Hollywood producers backed out, fearing the film was not marketable enough, and the project died. Giraud, Giger, O’Bannon and Foss would be reunited several years later to help make Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979).
Ultimately, David Lynch would be the one to direct Dune — a project he disparages — stating the producers and financiers restrained his artistic control and denied him final cut (the edit) of the film. The film was a box office bust and was generally not well received by critics.
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4 Comments
While I love poster art, I’ve never seen most of these. They sure are something, aren’t they?
Thanks for posting!
Excellent! Do you know where I can purchase any of the El Topo posters?
I’m also wondering where I can buy some of these posters. I’m interested in posters for The Holy Mountain and for El Topo.
I’m redesigning my bedroom/theater, so I’d like to buy myself one or two of these.
The majority of the posters posted above exist in small numbers and are obscure. Periodically checking eBay is a good idea.
Currently (Dec. 1st ’09) there are 5-10 El Topo and Holy Mountain posters on eBay. They aren’t cheap: starting bids range from 259 – $595.
You can buy an inauthentic reprint at a reasonable price, but the authentic, original posters will cost you big buck$