Alejandro Jodorowsky Films
Lennon, after seeing and being impressed with Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo, persuaded Klein to buy the rights and bankroll Jodorowsky's next film, The Holy Mountain (1973). The Jodorowsky-Klein collaboration was an artistic success, but plans for a follow-up never materialized. Witnessing the commercial success of hard-core pornographic films, such as Deep Throat and The Devil In Miss Jones, which broke through to the mainstream, Klein saw similar potential in Pauline Réage's bestseller The Story Of O, but Jodorowsky walked out on the deal. In retribution, Klein withdrew every print of El Topo and The Holy Mountain from US distribution, and turned down all subsequent requests by film festivals.
Both films were withdrawn from circulation in the US for more than 30 years, making sporadic, bootleg appearances on video – and being usually only of poor quality. Jodorowsky publicly endorsed these pirated copies of his work, since he was unable to show or distribute the films legally (within the US). Both El Topo and The Holy Mountain were screened as part of a retrospective of Jodorowsky's work at the 7th annual Chicago Underground Film Festival in 2000. The dispute over the films ended in 2004, when Jody Klein contacted Jodorowsky and offered a reconciliation. In response to the films' re-appearance, both the Cannes and London Film Festivals have organised gala screenings. Both films are also available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Read more about this topic: Allen Klein
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“Does art reflect life? In movies, yes. Because more than any other art form, films have been a mirror held up to society’s porous face.”
—Marjorie Rosen (b. 1942)