Few films look quite like this one, and fewer still try to say as much with pure image as Alejandro Jodorowsky does here.
What is The Holy Mountain about?
A thief who resembles a religious icon is pulled off the street and into the orbit of a mysterious alchemist, who assembles him alongside seven wealthy, corrupt figures — each one standing in for a planet of the solar system — and leads the group on a journey toward a mountain said to hold the secret of immortality. Along the way the film abandons linear plot almost entirely, staging one surreal tableau after another: military massacres restaged with frogs and lizards, industrial factories that manufacture bullets shaped like toys, ritual after ritual that reads more like a tarot deck flipping open than a story unfolding. Made in Mexico with a cast pulled from Jodorowsky's own circle of collaborators, the film builds toward a final stretch that turns its gaze on the production itself, breaking the fourth wall in a way few films of its era attempted.
About the cast
Alejandro Jodorowsky directs and also plays the alchemist at the story's center, giving the film a hands-on, almost ceremonial presence behind and in front of the camera. Horacio Salinas plays the thief whose journey structures the film, while Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara, and the ensemble of seven wealthy figures give the mountain's followers their distinct, symbolic textures.
Context & significance
Released in 1973, The Holy Mountain arrived at the tail end of a run of underground and midnight-movie cinema that prized shock and spectacle over conventional storytelling, and it remains one of the most cited titles from that period for how far it pushed both. Jodorowsky drew on tarot symbolism, alchemical texts, and his own theatrical background to build a film meant to be read almost like a ritual object rather than watched as a narrative, and its visual design — much of it built from practical sets, painted backdrops, and live animals — has influenced generations of filmmakers who came after it.
Watching The Holy Mountain on Ktime
The Holy Mountain is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, giving Farsi-speaking viewers full access to a film whose dense visual language rewards close attention. A free K-Time account is all that's needed to start watching, and the platform's Farsi-first design makes it a natural home for viewers seeking this kind of demanding, image-driven cinema.