Fenix, the young son of two circus owners/performers, witnesses his father’s mutilation of his mother and consequential suicide and is subsequently institutionalised, but it is only when his limbless mother returns for him that his sordid journey really begins.

There are some films so infamous amongst the cult movie fraternity that they are totally preceded by their reputation, a sort of Holy Grail spread by word of mouth that tells of legendary levels of obscurity that must be sought out, regardless of quality, which, after all, is not necessarily the subject of these mutterings. Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) is just such a film by an equally iconic director whose career made up in potency for what it lacked in quantity and, in this instance, leads us up a Holy Mountain to what is widely considered the pinnacle of his career. But, as is often the question with something so infamous, is it actually any good?

“You’re about to witness the ultimate miracle; the transformation of death into life.” There are no truer words to sum up a film so utterly brimming with life despite its mournful content than those spoken by Fenix himself. Santa Sangre is, in its bare bones form, a serial killer film. Though there is plenty of psychoanalytic territory to be had here, it is not a film about death but about life, where killing is a concern rather than a subject. Jodorowsky places no importance upon investigation or retribution but every emphasis on unfaltering hope, where enlightenment is a subconscious journey and love brings redemption. It is an extremely expressive film, playing in its entirety like a performance steeped in influences not only from a rich cinematic heritage but also from Jodrowsky’s own multifarious life. Where his films have been relatively few and far between, they are complimented by his foray into a wide range of artistic reaches which have come to bear heavily on them, and Santa Sangre is no exception.

Though Santa Sangre is a complex film with its religious imagery and psychoanalytic implications, it is in essence a simple tale of an awakening from a damaged subconscious. From the extended flashback introduction, we bear witness to the sights which cause Fenix to retreat to his silent ‘eagle’ existence, rejecting human life or contact but for the Down syndrome children he is institutionalised with. It is with them that he encounters the Tattooed Woman (Thelma Tixou), a sight which jolts him from his near-somnambulistic state into a horrific resurrection. It is then that his mother returns for him, calling him out into a street empty but for the billowing wall of smoke into which they are proceeding. With this one powerful image, Jodorowsky lets us know that the fire has started from which Fenix (Phoenix) must surely rise.
Intrinsic to this film’s vibrancy is the Mexican culture which Jodorowsky mixes with artistic ease, blending the colours and sounds with marginalised groups and passionate circus life. His fondness for ‘freaks’ is used to the most natural and moving effect as they perform like shepherds on Fenix’s necessary but harrowing journey of realisation. Similarly unaffected is the use of music. Instruments play their own performance in the hands of clowns who play them as emotions with gently comic effect. Jodorowsky mixes his cinematic influences with similar ease, bringing together elements of horror, classical studio system and surrealist filmmaking. But it isn’t his artistic eye or uncanny ability fuse cultural and cinematic influences with seamless effortlessness that makes Santa Sangre the original, beautiful and surprisingly endearing piece of cinema it undoubtedly is. Coupled with Axel and, in flashback sequence, younger brother Adan Jodorowsky’s genuinely heartfelt and unassuming performances as the sensitive and delusional Fenix, it is father Alejandro’s passionate presentation of a life less ordinary that brings this film to life. It is amongst the ‘marginalised’ groups, the freaks, pimps, prostitutes, transsexuals, giants and dwarves that the richest of lives exists, the most touching of friendships and the most pure, sincere and redemptive love.

One of the most beautiful films you could ever have the good fortune to see. Horrific, powerful, tender and unconstrained, Santa Sangre is not only an incredible cinematic achievement but also an absolute pleasure to experience. I love this film 10/10