Trivia for
The Holy Mountain (1973) More at IMDb Pro »

• The film is based on "The Ascent of Mt. Carmel" by St. John of the Cross and "Mt. Analogue" by Rene Daumal.
  
  
• Before filming began, director Alejandro Jodorowsky spent a week without sleep under a Zen Master's direction and lived communally with the film's cast for a month.
  
  
• At a projected budget of $1,500,000 (in USA dollars), it was to have been the most expensive Mexican film production to date. The film reportedly cost only half that amount.
  
  

• The Thief has no dialogue except for a single instance of saying "yes" throughout the film. Jodorowsky himself even dubbed the actor's enraged screams, upon discovering the statues created in his likeness.
  
  
• The crucified animal carcasses were borrowed from a local restaurant, which were then served to customers upon being returned.
  
  
• Jodorowsky recalls that the chameleon and toad circus was difficult to prepare for and film. The toads themselves were hard to dress, as "their urine was like acid," and they'd keep filling up with air and then blowing it out, trying to escape. The chameleons, on the other hand, were incredibly sedate, and the cameraman would have to leave the camera rolling for long periods of time before they'd even flick their tongues or move their eyes.
  
  
• The Alchemist's shoes were inspired by those of Frankenstein's monster, having both heels and high platforms as well.
  
  
• The "tumor" that the priests pull out of the back of the Thief's neck was an octopus the filmmakers purchased at a local market.
  
  
• Much of the sound in the film was improvised by Mexican sound effects specialist Gonzalo Gavira, yet nonetheless gained the admiration of American director William Friedkin, who in turn hired him to do sound work for The Exorcist (1973).
  
  
• During the boating sequence, Jodorowsky had intended to shoot a scene where the group leaps into the ocean to "get in the infinite waters." The cast proceeded to leap in, then promptly began to drown. The crew was so busy trying to rescue them that nothing of the scene ended up being shot.
  
  
• During Axon's hallucination, the battling dogs were indeed real fighting dogs.
  
  
• The movements from the opening scene ritual are actual movements of a Japanese tea ceremony. Jodorowsky states that the girls themselves were not actual actresses, merely two people who "wanted to have a spiritual experience. They were searching for their own truth, the naked truth."
  
  

• SPOILER: George Harrison, himself a big fan of Jodorowksy's work after having seen Topo, El (1970), was originally up for the role of The Thief, but disagreed with the director over what he considered gratuitous nudity -- particularly, the shot where his anus is bathed. Rather than cast a stand-in, or remove the shot altogether, Jodorowsky stood his ground, prompting Harrison to drop out. Jodorowsky later expressed some regret over this in the Anchor Bay DVD commentary, noting that Harrison's involvement could have exposed the film to an even larger audience.
  
  
• SPOILER: The crew didn't obtain any permits for the shot of the helicopter setting down in the street, merely had an actor in a police uniform shop traffic while they filmed, then proceeded to run off after the shot was complete.
  
  
• SPOILER: During the decapitation scene, the actor actually struck Jodorowsky for real, cutting his neck and nearly killing him. Jodorowsky reflects that had the sword actually been real, he would indeed have been decapitated.
  
  

Related Links