Alejandro Jodorowsky
A mystic provocateur of cinema whose wildly symbolic and violent films created a new spiritual language for the midnight movie crowd.
Born 1929 (age 97)·Chilean and French filmmaker·Birthday: February 17·The Silent Generation
Biography
Alejandro Jodorowsky (b. 1929) directs films, writes comics, stages theatre, reads tarot, and practices performance art. He calls himself a 'psychomagician.' Fleeing his Chilean childhood, he joined the Parisian avant-garde and later worked in Mexican theatre. 'El Topo' (1970), a surrealist western, became the first official 'midnight movie' and a counterculture hit. John Lennon and Yoko Ono funded his next film, 'The Holy Mountain,' an extravagant assault on reason and religion. His unmade adaptation of Frank Herbert's 'Dune' never reached production but influenced a generation of filmmakers through its storyboards and design. He later returned to cinema with deeply personal works: 'Santa Sangre' (1989) and 'The Dance of Reality' (2013), blending autobiography with mystical spectacle. His work insists that art must wound to heal, challenging viewers to seek enlightenment through shock.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Alejandro was born in 1929, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Alejandro Was Born
The biggest hits of 1929
#1 Movie
The Broadway Melody
Best Picture
The Broadway Melody
Alejandro's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1929Born
Wall Street crashes, triggering the Great Depression
Gas: $0.21/galPresident: Herbert Hoover"Singin' in the Rain" — Cliff EdwardsBest Picture: The Broadway Melody
1934Started school
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Stars Fell on Alabama" — Jack TeagardenBest Picture: It Happened One Night
1942Became a teenager
Battle of Midway turns the tide in the Pacific
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,175Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"White Christmas" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Mrs. Miniver
1945Could drive
WWII ends; atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $4,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Sentimental Journey" — Les Brown & Doris DayBest Picture: The Lost Weekend
1947Could vote
India gains independence; the Dead Sea Scrolls found
Gas: $0.23/galHome: $6,600Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Near You" — Francis CraigBest Picture: Gentleman's Agreement
1950Turned 21
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
1959Turned 30
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 40
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 50
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 60
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 70
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 80
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2026Age 97 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Directed 'El Topo' (1970), a film that pioneered the 'midnight movie' phenomenon and became a major cult hit.
- Created the iconic 'Jodorowsky's Dune' project in the 1970s; though never filmed, its ambitious designs and concepts heavily influenced later sci-fi cinema.
- Authored 'The Incal,' a landmark series of graphic novels created with artist Moebius that defined the 'space opera' genre in comics.
- Developed 'psychomagic,' a form of therapeutic performance art that uses symbolic acts to address psychological trauma.
Did You Know?
He is a practiced tarot reader and published a book titled 'The Way of Tarot.'
His son, Adan Jodorowsky, is a musician and actor, and his other son, Brontis Jodorowsky, has appeared in several of his films.
He once worked as a clown and mime in Paris, studying under the famous mime Marcel Marceau.
He is a vegan and has spoken extensively about his spiritual beliefs, which blend elements of Zen Buddhism, shamanism, and psychotherapy.
“The only way to be free is to be conscious of the fact that you are not free.”
