El Topo (1970)

It's 4am in the morning. Thunder and rain is pouring hard and stopping me from sleeping, so I decided to flip up the laptop and finally write a review I've been meaning to write since viewing the movie a week ago."El Topo" (The Mole), Alejandro Jodorowsky's visually striking western is the kind of movie I've been waiting for in a while. Even after 44 years, this movie still has the power to shock and or charm the viewer through imagery and symbolism that is essential Jodorowsky. So much so that one should catch up with the dream landscape paintings of Salvador Dali, and crack open various tales of religion and folklore because "El Topo" has plenty. Even now it's ambiguous what could be represented without forcing an answer.Kind of split into two parts, which has been linked to the Old and New Testament. It begins with a black clad figure roaming the desert on his horse accompanied by his young (naked) son, who doesn't seem to be fazed by the brutal slaughters they encounter on their travels. After the father has claimed his victory from the perpetrator, the imprisoned lady convinces El Topo to abandon his son and set out to defeat the four great gun masters in the West, becoming the greatest gunman of the land. Each master is of different ethnicity & religion, who begin to make El Topo question his motives thoroughly. What I can only imagine is the Adam & Eve story, a female stranger comes to their oasis and joins them in their quest, leading all involved to more mirages and ecstasy of the flesh. Reaching the end of his mission, events unfold which arguably set up the redemption & rebirth of the character.Years later. Our protagonist awakens in a cave full of deformed people, who have nurtured him and worship him as a deity of sorts. Upon leaving the mountain and accompanied by a dwarf woman, he learns the town nearby is populated by a bunch of surreal, aristocratic cultists who trapped the people in the mountain, whom are lacking the physical capabilities to escape. El Topo (Adopting a Buddhist appearance, after a spiritual rebirth) and his friend begin planning to help their people by performing in the streets in exchange for petty cash, in turn to purchase dynamite. During their time families form and re-unite, beliefs are toppled and the motivations for peace are a violent, double edged sword.One could say it's indulgent for a man to direct, write, star and craft the music for his picture. However, on repeated viewings of the directors extraordinary filmography, anything else would feel unjust. "El Topo" does right by not forcing it's symbolism upon you, and it's imagery continues to hold up incredibly well throughout its two-hour running length.Final Verdict: Something raw prevails in "El Topo", that sets it apart from anything I've ever watched. Arguably it's going to be one of those films I'll highly recommend to my friends, continue to prove foreign cinema is a powerful force of imagination outside of the western world, and is right now finding a spot on my all time top 20 favourite films. 9/10. An experience vital to any film-maker.

Saw this when it came out many years ago, and was appalled to find that so many of my friends considered this mess to be a 'good' movie. It is, in fact, a pastiche of art film clichés with a load of whipped cream, jimmies and a cherry-on-top existentialism for idiots. I commented at the time on how the visuals were perceived within the framework of drug culture stating that while stoned on pot and well under the influence, 'El Topo' becomes a violent, would-be erotic freak show, and that, I suppose can be very heavy for some viewers. For others, it is enough to make one yawn. So, take your drugs, let your jaw drop, and try to enjoy this watered down knock off of many better films. It certainly didn't work for me.Yes, it has some unusual imagery, designed to fascinate the clueless and titillate the TV hypnotized hordes, but in total, it is no more meaningful than an 'in depth' article in USA Today. A poor sensationalist film by a minor director whose subsequent career foundered badly.

very boring movie... not a message, not technique, nothing interesting to see. Just trying to appear a high class movie..... The film was selected as the Mexican entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 44th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee..... Its official DVD release was in 2007. It copies some stuff from David Lynch, Korosawa, and the whole others but nothing new. Well, a lot of films don't have any interesting message, and you watch, just to be entertained, This movie even doesn't have that. The reason I didn't like this movie is that it tries to appear like a high class movie, which is not. It looks like a c**t in a temple, just inappropriate.

Writer, director, and actor Alejandro Jodorowsky's definitive cult Western is not a film that should be missed. It's a cerebral, surreal, and existential experience that will make you turn your head in confusion and widen your eyes in mystical awe. Jodorowsky stars as the title character, El Topo, a man wandering through the desert in search of spiritual enlightenment. He travels with his young son, played by Jodorowsky's real son Brontis, in search of four warrior masters that he must duel to complete his trans formative journey. But that's only the beginning. There's a lot more going on in El Topo that you have to experience for yourself.El Topo is the film that began the cult craze of Midnight Movies. These were taboo indie films screened at small independent theaters at midnight. El Topo established this midnight movie genre as something violent, strange, and disturbingly enthralling for the viewer. The film is an experience like no other, even if it is difficult to decipher just what it all means.Personally, I was awed by El Topo, but I didn't like it as much as Jodorowsky's next film, The Holy Mountain. El Topo is far more out there than The Holy Mountain, and it is increasingly difficult to grasp the purpose and the concept of the film as it gets stranger and stranger. Of course, this was the brain wracking spiritual experience Jodorowsky intended for the film, so he deserves plenty of kudos for making such a surreal mind freak of a film. It's independent filmmaking on a genius level that works on levels rarely explored in cinema.El Topo is truly cinema as a surreal art form. It may not all make sense, but that's what repeated viewings are for. I can't wait to watch El Topo a few more times to collect the interpretive meaning of the film in my mind. There's so much that El Topo has to offer, and it can definitely be a little overwhelming on the first viewing. But you can expect a mystical and almost magical experience when you watch this film.