The Dance of Reality

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s autobiographical film, Dance of Reality, features everything from a dwarf Zorro to a team of singing amputees to a shootout at a dog show to a surprising amount of onscreen urination. And that’s just in the first hour. Jodorowsky’s first movie in almost a quarter-century, Dance of Reality is really something to behold—strange, riveting, existential, colorful and bold. Even as autobiographies go, this one’s personal: Jodoworsky appears as himself, an 85-year-old filmmaker looking back on his childhood, whispering to his preadolescent self (Jeremias Herskovits) about the paths of life. Meanwhile, his son, Brontis, plays Jodoworsky’s father. It’s a compelling performance, one that goes from business owner and strict patriarch to Nazi-fighting communist superhero. Couple Dance of Reality with the recent documentary Jodoworsky’s Dune, chronicling the filmmaker’s abandoned sci-fi adaptation, and it’s been quite a year in the winter of a great artist.