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Plot:
An experimantal tale in which classic Americana and avant-garde European cinema
sensibilities meet Zen Buddhism and the Bible, as master gunfighter and cosmic
mystic El Topo must defeat his four sha...( read more 
)
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 29, 2008Stunning...not exactly easy to process or digest. Jodorowsky has made the ultimate existential movie...a visually hypnotic piece of art and its originality is beyond anyone's imagination. It is amazing beyond description. Disturbing, yes..of course, but very beautiful at the same time.
Take a spaghetti western, mix it up with acid, put it on a blender with all your philosophies and moral questions and press the button..you have El Topo. Watch it once, then again, put away, revisit...you'll get it. -
MCT:August 25, 2008
Wow!
I have no idea what to think of the first half of this movie, but the second half is spectacular with an incredible ending. -
MCT:August 5, 2008An oddly interesting document of the 60s sensibility -- which gains points for being insanely over-the-top, and for not being so painfully dull as, eg, Easy Rider. You might say this movie has something for everyone. Somewhere. A nice example of chemical cinema.
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MCT:July 30, 2008"You must bury a picture of your mother and your favorite toy, before you can become a man...", says Alejandro Jodorowsky to a naked infant as he rides through the desert in all black with an umbrella.
El Topo(The Mole), is a story about one long...(read more) gunslingers quest to become the greatest of all killers, along the way he encounters and duels several "masters", until he reaches the final stage, where the most enlightened of all masters, kills himself.
Distraught the lone gunmen, goes underground where he meets a group of kindly deformed people who have never been to the surface...
The best way to explain the rest may be to mention another scene in a Jodorowsky film, The Holy Mountain, where the thief gives food to a group of starving children, at which the alchemist scoffs and asks if he wants to see what would happen if he tried to feed them all, and the alchemist makes dozens of loaves of bread appear. The children began fighting over the food, snarling at each other, etc. The Alchemist tells the theif, "all the food in the world is useless if they are not ready to share".
If you havent seen the movie yet, ignore that, but if you have think about the mole going into the light prematurely and blinding itself at the beginning (and others ancient stories of Caves and temporary blindess?), about what the gunmen is attempting to do for the people underground, and why it goes wrong? Anyway it's food for thought. Don't take anything about this film literally.
Surreal, allegorical, violent, and sensory pounding, take on the Sphagetti Western and Samurai tale, set in the Mexican desert. Wasn't available in the states for years until very recently, if uou get the chance, see it. Recommend | add comment -
MCT:July 17, 2008
the symbolism and metaphors will burn out your retinas. being mislead by egotism and a woman, hmm i wonder where jodorowsky stole that idea? luv it!
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MCT:July 4, 2008PAN AND SCAN. Oscila entre lo profundo y fascinante, y lo redundante, pretencioso y cansón. No ayudan las referencias tan obvias a Fellini, Buńuel y Leone. / Alternately profound and fascinating, and redundant, pretentious and tiresome. Obvious references to Fellini, Buńuel and Leone don't help either.
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MCT:July 2, 2008You do know 'topo' means mole, don't you? Then brush up on your spanish, and don't watch this would-be-gay movie!
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MCT:June 30, 2008
Jodorowsky's masterpiece (in my opinion). I first saw this film in a repertory theatre at a midnight showing. I was blown away. I had heard about jodorowsky, but WOW. I was really blown away.
This film was a mindfuck for me and still i (as are most jodorowsky films, safe for his more accessible santa sangre). Lots of bible references (I haven't read the bible), and a lot of mysticism. Even if you don't grasp all of the metaphors (luckily I was watching with someone who had read the bible so I was explained a few scenes, namely, the rock and water scene), this is a great film for visual stimulation and even if you don't catch all of the metaphors, your brain will still be at full force.
One of my all time favorites. I recommend this to anyone with an open mind. -
MCT:June 28, 2008EL TOPO (1970)
directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
starring Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jacqueline Luis, Robert JohnAlejandro Jodorowsky is like Sergio Leone on acid, or maybe something else, I couldnt tell, I never did drugs. El Topo is the cult classic spaghetti western about, well, something. Its very, very strange, extremely violent and filled with sexual references that sometimes made me think the film was about sexual fetishism. El Topo is actually quite a complex film if you take time to think about. Its more than just a cowboy movie, its might actually be a metaphor about Western civilization with all that violence, sex, racism and blind faith.A man, lets call him El Topo, cause he doesnt have a name, goes on a mistical journey to discover himself and overcome his overly violent nature. After coming close to death, he is saved by deformed people who come to see him as a God-like figure for many years, until he is «born again» and decides to go out and save them, by digging a tunnel, cause they are stuck inside a mountain.
It is slow-paced, but there are some impressive images and despite being confusing and never giving any explanations, El Topo is quite an enjoyable film. Its surreal and weird, sometimes philosophical, almost pretentious and exploitive, but for the sake of its message. I cant really tell what my apprecition of El Topo is, and if I dug deeper I would probably come up with a better understanding of the film, but its definately worth it, cause its different, and shows an overlooked filmmaker's talent. Twisted, to say the least.
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MCT:June 26, 2008
Weird for weird's sake and controversial for infamy's sake, Jodorowsky has earned my respect with "El Topo." Even though it's longer than necessary, "El Topo"'s Biblical allusions, metaphors, and (orange) bloody shoot-outs form an eclectic spaghetti western capable of falling, practically, under any category of film. Who cares if there's a faux-something here and there? It's well-rounded, entertaining and I love it.
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MCT:June 22, 2008
mm. indeed.
I like the first half better than the second, even though the second is more linear and easier to follow. Definitely some interesting images, but honestly it gets a bit dull. -
MCT:June 16, 2008El Topo is probably one of the few films that truly embodies the term "cult movie". Hard to get for more than 30 years, almost to the point of making it a sort of urban legend, claimed to be adored by everyone from John Lennon to marketing tools like Marilyn Manson. El Topo ends up being, like many cult flicks, less of what you might think, and a lot more of what you didn't expected.
First of all, this is not a movie that can be easily pin to a single genre. While is mostly sold as a spaguetti western this is not your typical Leone-esque flick. The story is simplier from what many would think, the usual "lonely tough hero" following the usual path of the hero, falling from grace and then redemption. There is a lot of pseudo-spiritual and religious imagery and concepts all mix together that just don't stick well together. But i'll give credit to Jodorwsky for being quite creativy in terms of visuals, and for managing to give the usual "hero" arc story a viciously ironic twist. -
MCT:June 1, 2008
In my heart I have to believe that all of the religious and philosophical meaning and symbolism in Jordowsky's films is purely coincidental and that he is actually just batshit insane.
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MCT:May 14, 2008
"Surrealist western masterpice, that upon numerous viewings only seems to raise more questions, the imagery in this is so amazing it just leaves u in a trance. Ineed to see this again but really fucked up"
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MCT:April 23, 2008
All right, now this is a weird movie. This is a hard film to describe, it?s basically a Leone-esque spaghetti Western, but with the weirdness turned up to eleven. The film features shocking violence which is somehow less shocking the way it is filmed, there?s a lot of strange homo-erotic imagery, both male and female, also the plot makes little or no sense on a traditional narrative level. That said, as a purely surreal film this is very good at what it wants to be. Pure surrealism is a cinematic trait that?s rarely attempted, which is part of what makes this film so unique, that and the fact that it?s batshit insane. I was mesmerized by the film, but it left me asking two key questions: what was director Alejandro Jodorowsky smoking when he made this thing, and where can I get some?
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MCT:April 15, 2008
As difficult to rate as it is to watch. In the end, this movie is a surrealist's wet dream... a mash-up of cult violence, sex, biblical allusion, and more story lines then one can shake a stick at. Somewhere in there, under all of the outrageousnous the music, the cinematography, and the writing all come together to form something beautiful... somewhere.
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MCT:February 1, 2008
I'm not going to say I liked El Topo, but I will say it kept me engaged.
Jodorowsky's film should be a rallying cry for film students. If this guy can get a film this crazy made, than anyone can get there personal vision up on the screen. You just have to want it as much as Alejandro did. -
MCT:January 31, 2008
Long unavailable, finally now has been properly released, john lennon's favourite film, one of mine. A surrealistic extremely philosophical and symbolic western/parable.
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MCT:January 29, 2008
A masterful blend of genres mixed with spiritual beauty, where the idea of redemption and where putting your faith not on one powerful than yourselves, but in yourself, a tale where Christian ideals are pitted against Eastern philosophy, where both were so creatively and beautifully blended.
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MCT:January 11, 2008
"El Topo", is probably Jodorowsky's most talked about film next to "Santa Sangre". Like all his films it is bizarre and full of symbolism. El Topo is a cowboy dressed in black. He is out for vengeance, kind of like the Biblical God of the old testament. Him and his son ride through a town of massacred civilians. He wants justice and to win the heart of a girl, Mara. He gives up his only son, in an act that could be looked at like God, or even Abraham. He has to kill seven master gunfighters. After all the violence and carnage, he is injured and taken under the care of cripples, dwarfs and other various misfits. He is reborn, almost like a Bhuddist monk. He becomes like the new testament God, Jesus Christ. El Topo is now like a savior to the oppressed. He vows to dig a tunnel out of the cave so the cripples can live among the villagers. The town is taken over by religious fanatics. Poor villagers are branded with the religious icon by force. An upper class of elitists now dominate the town. "El Topo" is beautiful, and chocked full of violent and disturbing imagery. The film became a popular cult sensation in the early 70's. It was embraced by the likes of John Lennon, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd. More recently celebrities like Marilyn Manson and the Coen Brothers have talked about being strongly influenced by Jodorowsky's work. "El Topo" is important, because it was the first midnight movie. If people could forget about "the Rocky Horror Picture Show" just for a second, they'd realize that this is one of the most important cult films. A bizarre and surreal western that can never be imitated. The only 3 surreal westerns I can think of to pre-date "El Topo" that have many similarities are Brazilian director Glauber Rocha's "Black God, White Devil" (1964) and his follow up "Antonio Das Mortes" (1969) and the Italian Spaghetti western "Django, Kill if you Live, Shoot" (1967).
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MCT:December 30, 2007
I...it...what? Yeah, it's more linear than anything David Lynch has ever done, but it still confuses the living bejeezus out of me. Just about everything in the movie is symbolic in one way or another, and the images are ridiculous. Most certainly the weirdest western I've ever seen, and now I want to hunt down Jodorowsky's other movies just to see how insane and effed up those are.
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MCT:December 28, 2007
Une sorte de western hyper-violent qui se transforme en quęte spirituelle. C'est trčs étrange, sa technique de montage en ellipses est assez déroutante et le déroulement est trčs lent. Il y a des longueurs, mais le symbolisme est bien travaillé et la photographie de certains plans est fabuleuse. Un film qui demande quand męme un certain degré de concentration et de travail de la part du spectateur, mais ça vaut la peine d'ętre vu. Cette oeuvre a d'ailleurs inspiré Lynch et suscité l'admiration de plusieurs célébrités, notamment Marylin Manson...
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MCT:December 7, 2007
Oh yeah! One of the deepest allegorical, colorful films I have ever seen. Inspiring, thought-provoking, funny, weird, original, difficult, interesting. Yes please.
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MCT:October 17, 2007As retarded as this looks, I might actually get a laugh out of it. And yeah, I know, it's not a comedy.
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