Inquisición (1977)

Inquisición: Directed by Paul Naschy. With Paul Naschy, Daniela Giordano, Mónica Randall, Ricardo Merino. Period piece set during the Inquisition about a witch-finder general who falls in love with the village beauty, who has made a pact with the devil to seduce and condemn the man who is killing off Satan’s servants.

“If youu0026#39;re familiar with Jodorowskyu0026#39;s films (u0026#39;The Holy Mountainu0026#39; / u0026#39;El Topou0026#39;) you are already aware that your chances of fully understanding the menagerie he presents is futile; whole books can and have been written in an effort to deconstruct his symbolism and celebrate his imagery. Itu0026#39;s very easy to focus on the humor and find distraction in the surrealism of his films – that was always the initial draw for me – but his ambitions are of substance with meanings often relevant only to the director himself. The seed of this film is an autobiographical story of Jodorowskyu0026#39;s early childhood in the isolated coastal city of Topopilla, Chile where he experienced alienation as a displaced Ukrainian Jew. Jodorowsky insists that reality is a subjective concept and he immediately describes his setting as a circus with an overbearing father who dresses as Stalin and a mother whose lines are entirely delivered in operatic sing-song.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film is as much about his fatheru0026#39;s journey through life as it is his own and the performances are so passionate and over-the-top that, along with his vivid pallet of colors, there is a u0026#39;cartoonu0026#39; quality to the experience. All whimsy aside, this is one of his most cohesive narratives and he refers to u0026#39;The Dance of Realityu0026#39; (his first film in 23 years) as a therapeutic endeavor – or u0026#39;psychomagicu0026#39; – intended to heal residual, family-related psychological distress. Films made for an audience of one will always be a challenge but itu0026#39;s an absolute privilege to be allowed a peek into the mind of such a unique artist.”