The Holy Mountain 1973

A man, later revealed to be a thief, embodies The Fool tarot card as he lies in a desert, surrounded by swarming flies. Suddenly, a group of nude children, modestly adorned with green leaves, rushes towards him, removing a flower that had become stuck to his hand. In a bizarre turn of events, they, along with a limbless man, bind him to a pole and start pelting him with rocks. But when a rock strikes his forehead, he jolts awake, frees himself, and frightens the children away. The Fool grabs a rock and brandishes it at the limbless man, but instead, they bond over a joint and set off towards the city, where they earn money by entertaining tourists.

Due to the thief’s striking resemblance to Jesus Christ, some local revelers take advantage of his appearance, intoxicate him, and use his unconscious form to create wax statues of Christ. Upon regaining consciousness amidst a sea of wax figures, the thief obliterates all but one. While wandering the streets, he encounters a group of prostitutes, one of whom becomes infatuated with him. Later, he enters a hall where soldiers dance with local citizens but ends up in a confrontation with a priest who expels him. In a shocking act, he consumes the face of his wax statue and sends it soaring with balloons, symbolically consuming the body of Christ and offering “himself” to Heaven.

As he roams further, the thief stumbles upon a crowd gathered around a towering structure, where a massive hook lowers a bag of gold in exchange for food. Driven by curiosity, he climbs the tower, where he encounters the enigmatic alchemist and his mute female aide. Following a tense exchange, the thief defecates into a container, and in a moment of magic, the alchemist transforms the waste into gold. The alchemist proclaims, > “You are excrement. You can change yourself into gold.” Accepting the gold, the thief rejects the reflection he sees in a mirror by smashing it. The alchemist subsequently takes him under his wing as an apprentice.

As part of his initiation, the thief meets seven unique individuals who will accompany him on his quest; each is a personification of one of the planets, embodying their respective negative traits. Among them are a cosmetics producer symbolizing Venus, a weapons manufacturer for Mars, a millionaire art dealer for Jupiter, a war toy creator for Saturn, a political financial consultant for Uranus, a police chief representing Neptune, and an architect for Pluto. The alchemist guides this eclectic group, instructing them to burn their money and wax effigies of themselves. Together with the alchemist and his assistant, they form a ten-member unit.

The alchemist leads the group through various rites of transformation, with each member wielding staffs emblazoned with their planetary symbols; the alchemist wields a Sun staff, the thief a Moon staff, and the assistant a Mercury staff. Their journey takes them by boat to Lotus Island, where they seek the secret to immortality from nine immortal masters residing atop a sacred mountain. En route, they are sidetracked by the Pantheon Bar, a lively gathering place where attendees forsake their quest for the mountain in exchange for drugs, poetry, and displays of physical prowess. Leaving the party scene behind, they finally approach the mountain’s peak, where each member faces personal symbolic visions of their deepest fears and obsessions.

As they near the summit, the thief is sent back to rejoin his “people” accompanied by a young prostitute and an ape who have pursued him from the city. The remaining group confronts the cloaked immortals, only to discover they are mere faceless dolls. In a dramatic twist, the alchemist breaks the fourth wall, commanding, > “Zoom back, camera!” He unveils the film equipment—cameras, microphones, lights, and crew—just outside the frame, and then instructs everyone, including the audience, to depart the holy mountain, declaring, “Real life awaits us.”