Are souls born different? Oftentimes, there are individuals that test the nature and nurture dichotomy and Alejandro Jodorowsky has clearly nurtured such a juxtaposition.
His heritage, born of Jewish-Ukrainian parents – a mother and father that themselves were nomadic around many cities of the then Russian Empire – that migrated to Chile. Alejandro’s father was a cruel raping bully and Alejandro’s own conception was a result of one of these assaults. The abhorrent act resulting in Jodorowsky’s genesis prompted cold indifference from Alejandro’s mother, a sister he dubs as “attention seeking” and alienation from locals for being an immigrant, begged for a sanctuary for Alejandro’s creativity. Artistic expression became the vibrant possibility, the nurture and cradle for a lost boy seemingly inflicted upon the world around him.
After dropping out of college studying philosophy and politics, Alejandro became interested in mime and theatre. An avid reader and writer of poetry since childhood, he was published at 16 years old and formed his own theatre troupe in 1947, aged 18. He combined these two loves by penning his first play, El Minotauro (The Minotaur) in 1952, the same year he moved to Paris, joining a troupe with Marcel Marceau. Writing for the troupe, he delved into directing and his initial foray into film was in 1957. The outcome was a 20-minute short film based on a Thomas Mann novella, Les Tetes Interverties (The Severed Heads). Spending much of the 60’s and early 70’s in Mexico City, Jodorowsky dabbled in comics and Zen Buddhism.
Jodorowsky was picked to direct an adaptation of Dune in 1974. The project fell through due to a lack of funding, the destiny of bringing the science fiction book to the screen falling into the lap of David Lynch in 1984.
A testament to the mind bending ethos, melded with pathos of a youth surrounded by beatings and ostracising from locals and subsequent solace found in performance and expression, is Alejandro’s 1980 film, Tusk. It is a children’s fable recounting the tale of an English girl in India and an elephant, born on the same day (written originally as a novel by Reginald Campbell, Poo Lorn L’Elephant). For a man lauded for his poetic style in theatre and of course, poetry, the visual style had a prosaic touch that wasn’t favoured by fans and never saw a theatrical release. However, there are layered connotations to the theme of soul mates in Tusk. Shot in India, the English girl’s life and that of the elephant are intrinsically linked. A heavy implication threads the theme and narrative of belonging and a depth and association of spirit, underpinning the mundane. Telling a tale of linked essences between a small girl and a large elephant, Tusk is an homage to Alejandro Jodorowsky’s own spiritual journey, from Buddhism to Shamanism (continued by his son).
How there is a beauty in nature that could be embodied in the ivory tusk of an elephant, exquisitely carved at the random violent cataclysms of suffering and ostracism, the narrative pulse of all Alejandro Jodorowsky’s work.
Article by Brad Yellop
