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THIS WEEK Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (12A) 10:30, 14:30, 18:00, 20:50 Earth to Echo (PG) 10:20, 13:00, 16:05 Transformers: Age of Extinction (PG) 10:00, 14:00, 17:30, 21:00 22 Jump Street (15) 18:20, 21:00 Maleficent (PG) 14:00, 16:20, 18:45, 21:10 The Fault in Our Stars (12A) 10:00, 15:15, 18:10, 21:00 Hercules (12A) 10:15, 13:45, 16:15, 18:30, 20:50 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 22 Jump Street (15) 14:05, 16:25, 18:45, 21:00, 23:20 The House of Magic (U) 14:20, 16:15, 18:30, 20:45 Maleficent (PG) 14:15, 16:30, 18:40, 20:50, 23:05 The Purge: Anarchy (15) 14:10, 16:25, 18:45, 21:10, 23:20 Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie (12A) 14:20, 16:25, 18:50, 21:10, 23:15 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 3D (12A) 14:30, 18:20, 21:05, 23:50 Transformers: Age of Extinction 3D (12A) 14:15, 21:15 Transformers: Age of Extinction (12A) 17:55, 22:45 The Fault in Our Stars (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 21:05, 23:40 Earth to Echo (PG) 14:20, 16:25, 18:50 Blended (12A) 20:55, 23:20 The Past (French) (12A) 14:30, 18:10, 20:50, 23:30 Tammy (15) 14:15, 16:20, 18:40, 20:55, 23:00 Hercules 3D (12A) 14:20, 16:30, 18:50, 21:15, 23:30 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (U) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 20:45, 23:00 Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Transformers: Age of Extinction (12A) 15:45, 21:00 Earth to Echo (PG) 11:00, 13:45, 19:00 Maleficent (PG) 15:50, 20:50 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (U) 11:00, 13:40, 18:05 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 3D (12A) 10:45, 13:30. 16:05, 18:45, 21:25 Hercules 3D (12A) 11:05, 13:35, 15:45, 18:00, 20:45 JODO, a playful visionary whose passion can easily be misquoted to "rape, rape, rape, with love", tem- pers with the well-earned title of a messiah in a return to cinema after 23 years. In true form he is everywhere, and for 'La danza de la realidad' starts off in his hometown of To- copilla, Chile. The story is led by a child thrown into the world and called Alejandro, the wrath of his father as Jaime, played by Bron- tis Jodorowsky, and the consoling spirit of a grandfather who can see and knows all, played by Jodo him- self. As for the mother (this is none- theless a family issue), she is the magical voice who defends, but rebukes young Alejandro when he steps into manhood, and the same one to heal Jamie on his deathbed. In a somewhat unforgettable se- quence of events Sara, the mother, hurls herself onto a plague-infested father, and in a brute ecstasy of prayer, excretes the flowing river of god onto her husband. Mythical as it sounds, this is the archetypal mother that, in Alejan- dro's theatre, feels epic but remains part of a movie that looks quite sparse. I'm not so convinced that Jodo is attempting to shock, espe- cially since its raw appeal leaves a lot of breathing space for interpre- tation. At times, I could even sense that not everyone can tolerate this makeshift cosplay ensemble, and from any audience I've come across, including myself, anyone could easily fall back on something as unnecessary as the slapstick re- action of a laugh – finding safety in that right kind of awkward moment is always a good way to get over it. True, his images are colourful but they are also crippled and full of melancholy. How else would anyone react to a woman losing her husband while urinating on him in prayer? If anything, this is a moment when Jodo responds to the old tale of, 'the wound can be healed only by the spear which smote it', or whatev- er narrative - be it that of Freud, Jung, or Wagner - one follows. Full of old tales, a concise analytical at- tempt at 'The Dance of Reality' is futile. The movie is a rather dark moment of hope for the enlightenment, one that does not de- mand a clear-cut reaction but rather numbs an audience into a cacophony of emotion. There are too many variables to deal with, too many images inter- lacing into one screen and all of them point to Jodorowsky's own prima materia; his biography. Be it with a swift shift from a flock of birds, a dead seascape of sardines, or the sudden rolling of a high tide that is ready to swallow young Ale- jandro and his companion, Jodo's prowess lies in an imaginative frenzy of meaning that jumps from one diorama into another. In young Alejandro's childhood, where the thrust of the earth's pull is made pretty clear, everything is intensely populated and as always, at risk of being taken along for a ride by any other story. This ability to wonder between personal and the rest of the world's stories so freely only comes to a halt with his father's own dream as the defiant comrade, Signor Jamie Jodorowsky. Hence, the plot sud- denly thickens to a bold line only when Jamie realises his true call- ing; the mission to assassinate the Chilean General Ibanez. None other than Jodo himself is at fault for this and by this time, like the child, the audience is made vul- nerable enough to believe that yes, anything can happen. It is very tempting to read the movie as what may be the director's farewell to the magic of cinema, and a dear apology to his own son Brontis. Playing the part of Jamie, he is given the opportunity to be put into the same shoes of Jodo, his own father and the merciless direc- tor who once cast young Brontis for a deadly role in 'El Topo'(1970). The epic poem of 'La danza de la realidad' builds on such a notion as a crippled manhood, and one's eternal return to home. As the narrative shifts between Jodo as a son, and Jodo as a father, both Ale- jandro and Jaime share a singular intention- the instinctual direction to prove themselves as men. If anything, 'La danza de la reali- dad' doesn't fall short of being an ode to the narrative act of becom- ing, and the ability of fiction. For Jodo, this is what cinema is about - transformation - where, like Par- sifal, performance is a bridge to the spiritual life from which the desti- tute learn to fall like an angel, an act of which his imagination never ceases to stop. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 2014 35 FILM IN CINEMAS TODAY By Aidan Celeste My favourite cacti THIS WEEK ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ CHEEK-TO-CHEEK ★ ★ ★ ★ ELECTRIC SLIDE ★ ★ ★ FANDANGO ★ ★ TWO LEFT FEET ★ CURTAIN CALL Young Alejandro's journey towards manhood takes on the director's autobiography via the transformative prism of the imagination LA DANZA DE LA REALIDAD (18) ★ ★ ★