'' The Dance of Reality '' ( ) is a 2013 Chilean-French semi-autobiographical musical fantasy drama film written , produced , and directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky , starring Brontis Jodorowsky , Pamela Flores , and Jeremias Herskovits . It is Alejandro Jodorowsky 's first film in 23 years . The film screened at Directors ' Fortnight during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival . The film is based on an earlier work by Jodorowsky first published in Spanish under the title '' La danza de la realidad : Psicomagia y psicochamanismo '' ( 2001 ) . Young Alejandro ( Jeremías Herskovits ) lives with his Jewish-Ukrainian parents Jaime ( Brontis Jodorowsky ) and Sara ( Pamela Flores ) in Tocopilla , Chile . Jaime is a communist who worships Stalin and raises his son with great severity . Sara sings rather than talks throughout the film , and believes Alejandro to be the reincarnation of her father because of his long blonde hair . Irritated by his wife 's delusional views of their son and angered by Alejandro 's behavior , which he views as cowardly and effeminate , Jaime cuts off Alejandro 's hair ( which is depicted as wig in what appears to be magic realism ) , demands he repudiate the existence of God , and puts him through tests of self-control and bravery which include withstanding being tickled , slapped , and finally undergoing a dental operation without anesthetic . Satisfied with his son 's bravery , Jaime acknowledges that he respects Alejandro and arranges for him to be made the mascot of the Tocopilla fire brigade . Alejandro accompanies the fire brigade to the scene of a fire where one of the firemen becomes trapped in the house and burns to death . During the subsequent funeral procession , Alejandro imagines himself lying in the casket with the firemen 's corpse , and collapses from fright . Jaime takes him home , but burns the mascot 's uniform in front of Alejandro when he wakes up , again calling his son a coward and claiming he is ashamed of him . In an attempt to prove his own bravery to the other firefighters , who he fears look down on him because of his son 's cowardice and his Jewish heritage , Jaime attempts to distribute water to plague victims quarantined outside the town , but they kill and eat his donkeys and he himself is infected . He walks back to his shop , visibly infected , and a stand-off with the army ensues . As Jaime goes into convulsions and the army threaten to burn the shop to contain the infection , Sara prays for Jaime 's recovery and urinates on him , curing him . Energized by his miraculous recovery , Jaime plans to assassinate the right-wing president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo ( Bastian Bodenhofer ) . He agrees to work with another communist to assassinate Ibáñez at a dog show , but the gun fails and Jaime passes himself off as a hero when he jumps between Ibáñez and the gunman . To get close to Ibáñez , Jaime asks for a job as groom to the president 's beloved horse Bucephalus as payment for his heroism . Jaime then poisons Bucephalus as part of his plot to kill Ibáñez , but when Jaime has Ibáñez at gunpoint , his hands become paralysed
2013 Cannes Film Festival
2013 Cannes Film Festival
The Dance of Reality