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Santa Sangre

Where to Watch Santa Sangre

R
1989

Santa Sangre is an avant-garde 1989 Mexican-Italian surrealist drama horror film directed by the cosmically imaginative Chilean-French filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky. The film, anchored in psychoanalysis, mental disarray, and religious symbolism, showcases a complex narrative structure laden with visual metaphors and atmospheric, dream-like sequences that are classic tropes of Jodorowsky's unique film-making style. It stars Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, and Guy Stockwell, who together weave a tapestry of disturbingly beautiful scenes that are hard to forget. Axel Jodorowsky, the director's son, shines in the role of Fenix, a former circus performer burdened by a traumatic childhood. Central to the narrative is Fenix's relationship with his parents, played by Guerra and Stockwell. The dynamics of this relationship, explored predominantly through flashbacks, form the backbone of the story. Axel’s performance is commendable, managing the theatricality the role requires while also projecting genuine vulnerability. Blanca Guerra portrays Concha, Fenix's mother, with a casual grace that belies her character's intensity. As a religious fanatic, Concha's fervent worldview casts a long shadow over Fenix's upbringing and ultimately fuels the escalating turmoil in his life. Guerra’s portrayal of the brooding, passionate, and borderline deranged matriarch is arresting. Fenix's father, Orgo, is played by Guy Stockwell, whose swaggering, boisterous circusman provides a counterbalance to Guerra's more understated performance. Orgo, a knife-thrower and tattoo artist, is a free-spirited man whose volatility fuels the narrative's unfolding catastrophe. The movie pivots around a tragic event at the circus that haunts Fenix and leaves him confined in a mental hospital. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Fenix is grappling with his past, addressing themes of mental illness, trauma, and guilt interspersed with elements of horror and the surreal. From the isolation of the asylum, the narrative reaches back in time to the circus’s grim events, and forward as Fenix navigates his post-institutional life. Santa Sangre is admired for its narrative deeply entrenched in Freudian themes, exploring the psychosexual tensions within Fenix's family life and the fallout of these dynamics. Packed with religious metaphors and explored through hallucinatory sequences, the veneer of reality often blurs, creating an eerie, fairytale-like tone within the grotesque realism of Fenix's world. The title Santa Sangre (Holy Blood) quite rightly suggests the pivotal role that religious symbolism plays in the film. It features a fictional cult where Concha is a leading figure, worshipping a saint whose holy blood is preserved in a pool. There is a rich, symbolic exploration of topics like sin, redemption, divine punishment, and resurrection, all of which play out within the context of the core characters and their unfolding journeys. The visual richness of Santa Sangre cannot go unmentioned. Jodorowsky's penchant for expressive, symbolic cinematography is evident in every frame. The director's vision creates a blend of fantastical symbolism and harsh reality, presenting life in the circus and mental hospital scenes with equal measure of romance and gloom. The movie carries a pervasive sense of surrealism, augmented by the outstanding performances and haunting music. Jodorowsky employs his signature meta-cinematic theatricality, dependant as much on spectacular visuals as on visceral emotional connection. Santa Sangre is an idiosyncratic mix of horror, melodrama, psychological thriller, and art-house cinema, all playing out against a carnival-esque psychedelic backdrop. Santa Sangre remains a canonical work, hailed as a masterpiece of surrealist cinema, and a pivotal film in Jodorowsky's body of work. It is a brilliant exploration of the human subconscious, the repercussions of trauma, and the enduring conflict between sin and redemption, all told in a truly unique cinematic language. Viewers can expect to be challenged and perhaps slightly disoriented by the end of this cinematic journey. Yet, it is this very willingness to unravel the deeply uncomfortable aspects of the human psyche that makes Santa Sangre an unforgettable and moving cinematic experience.

Santa Sangre is a Horror, Mystery, Drama movie released in 1989. It has a runtime of 123 min.. Critics and viewers have rated it moderate reviews, with an IMDb score of 7.5..

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7.5/10
Director
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Stars
Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Sabrina Dennison, Adan Jodorowsky, Guy Stockwell, Thelma Tixou, Faviola Tapia
Also directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Also starring Blanca Guerra
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