Though famously named by John Lennon as one of his favorite films, Alejandro Jodorowsky's most notorious film, the 1970 cult classic El Topo has been met with derision in more recent years. The film begins as a gunfighter- the titular El Topo (Jodorowsky)- and his 6 year old son (Jodorowsky's real-life son Brontis) ride across the desert. The two come across a town full of corpses, and it's there that El Topo meets and forcibly takes a woman he names Mara (Mara Lorenzio). She challenges him to defeat the four top gunfighters in the desert, which he does, though not without trouble and some cheating. It's after this that a mysterious woman in black (Paula Romo) shows up, and the two women leave El Topo badly wounded. He doesn't wake up until twenty years later, having been cared for by a band of cave-dwelling little people. He vows to liberate them by digging a tunnel that leads to the outside world. Thus the title, "El Topo," meaning "the mole". El Topo's surreal journey is bloody, sexual and introspective, bringing in various religious and spiritual symbols as he tries to vanquish those he encounters.
There's no sugarcoating it, El Topo is imaginatively demanding and with everything going on, it can make for a difficult watch. You may think you recognize all the riffs, but there is so much religious subtext it would take a team of scholars to decipher it all. If you just want to watch it, and let it wash over you (which I do, and that's probably why I enjoy it), El Topo is a bizarre, colorful, vibrant experience. There is a distinct possibility that even Jodorowsky didn't know exactly what he was doing in terms of making cinema, but his imagination makes up for his lack of technical skill- you'll hardly see anything ordinary, like a neutral two-shot with two people talking, but you will see an armless man carrying a legless man around on his shoulders, and a church congregation that plays Russian Roulette. The story is almost childlike in nature, and not because it lack complexity, but because it wanders as the creator's mind wanders, moving from one event to the next with no logic whatsoever. The effect is powerful. Every frame is a painting, and it's a vital watch.
There's no sugarcoating it, El Topo is imaginatively demanding and with everything going on, it can make for a difficult watch. You may think you recognize all the riffs, but there is so much religious subtext it would take a team of scholars to decipher it all. If you just want to watch it, and let it wash over you (which I do, and that's probably why I enjoy it), El Topo is a bizarre, colorful, vibrant experience. There is a distinct possibility that even Jodorowsky didn't know exactly what he was doing in terms of making cinema, but his imagination makes up for his lack of technical skill- you'll hardly see anything ordinary, like a neutral two-shot with two people talking, but you will see an armless man carrying a legless man around on his shoulders, and a church congregation that plays Russian Roulette. The story is almost childlike in nature, and not because it lack complexity, but because it wanders as the creator's mind wanders, moving from one event to the next with no logic whatsoever. The effect is powerful. Every frame is a painting, and it's a vital watch.