"Perfection is to lose yourself, and to lose yourself you need to love. You don't love. You destroy, kill, and no one loves you. Because when you think you're giving, you're really taking."
Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo is a psychedelic, absurdist Western loaded with violence, quasi-religious references, and surreal imagery. The visuals borrow heavily from Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns, and yet this is a strikingly original work of art, one that struck a chord with those seeking alternative, mind-blowing experiences in midnight theaters, accompanied with pot or LSD. Much of it defies easy analysis, but you'll probably find a criticism of religion, colonialism, and the violent nature of man. Unfortunately, there are also parts that are remarkably banal, scenes that seemed in there simply for shock value, or which were downright cruel. It's impossible to overlook some seriously problematic aspects as well.
While there are references to other faiths, the arc of the main character seems to follow that of Christianity most of all. The titular hero (Jodorowsky himself) travels across the desert with a woman he has raped (more on this later) in order to defeat four masters. The masters are said by many to represent different religions or philosophies, but I'm not sure I put too much stock in that, except as it relates to just being "other Gods" ala the first Commandment. With the exception of the second master, quoted above, they don't seem too profound either. Meanwhile, the hero is a gunslinger who claims to be God in one scene, and to be searching for the "living God" in another. It doesn't seem as though he's seeking enlightenment; it seems more that he's acting out the petty, vengeful God of the Old Testament. Regardless, he challenges the four masters in perhaps the most American ways possible, with guns and treachery.
The plot then shifts in its second half, and it's only after El Topo has had a bit of comeuppance and is hauled off to a cave by the downtrodden of the world that he shows a little humility, saying at last "I am not a God." Like a mole (the meaning of "topo"), he then tries to tunnel out of the cave to free these people. It reminded me of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt or perhaps better, Christ trying to enlighten his followers, given the violent town they enter, and their ultimate fate. It's telling that his son, now adult, is a monk, follows the dogma of organized religion, and is unphased by murder. The way the film ends suggests a depressing, cyclical nature to man's behavior. It's a fascinating framework for a story, one that kept me interested, but I couldn't fully embrace the lack of coherence, even if this plays a part in making the film so compelling, and the pacing was often sluggish.
This biggest problem, however, is the scene where El Topo the character - and apparently Jodorowsky himself according to a 1971 interview that he recently recanted - commits rape (on Mara Lorenzio). Even if I bought the story that as a young director he felt he needed to hype himself, that the sex that he still admits occurred was consensual despite the unequal power in the director/actor relationship and what I imagine to be pressure on Lorenzio, making that part of the story line for the protagonist - with the women being raped until she achieves orgasm, then falling in love with him - is disturbing in its own right. There are also several scenes where Jodorowsky ogles women's breasts like an adolescent, which I'm not a prude about by any means, but just seems hypocritical if not misogynistic in a film with grander aspirations.
I also took issue with Jodorowsky's treatment of animals. In different scenes we see disemboweled horses, crows that are shot on-screen, and dozens of dead bunnies, with a few dying in pain. I don't buy Jodorowsky's current statements, disavowing that he harmed animals, claiming they were purchased dead. He's also varied his story over time, having also said he did indeed harm them, but that ""at the time, I thought cinema was sacred." How unfortunate that this subversive, artistic hero turned out to be so painfully conventional in his treatment of women and his cruelty to animals. No matter what heights the film soared to, it always had a bad taste in my mouth because of it.
Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo is a psychedelic, absurdist Western loaded with violence, quasi-religious references, and surreal imagery. The visuals borrow heavily from Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns, and yet this is a strikingly original work of art, one that struck a chord with those seeking alternative, mind-blowing experiences in midnight theaters, accompanied with pot or LSD. Much of it defies easy analysis, but you'll probably find a criticism of religion, colonialism, and the violent nature of man. Unfortunately, there are also parts that are remarkably banal, scenes that seemed in there simply for shock value, or which were downright cruel. It's impossible to overlook some seriously problematic aspects as well.
While there are references to other faiths, the arc of the main character seems to follow that of Christianity most of all. The titular hero (Jodorowsky himself) travels across the desert with a woman he has raped (more on this later) in order to defeat four masters. The masters are said by many to represent different religions or philosophies, but I'm not sure I put too much stock in that, except as it relates to just being "other Gods" ala the first Commandment. With the exception of the second master, quoted above, they don't seem too profound either. Meanwhile, the hero is a gunslinger who claims to be God in one scene, and to be searching for the "living God" in another. It doesn't seem as though he's seeking enlightenment; it seems more that he's acting out the petty, vengeful God of the Old Testament. Regardless, he challenges the four masters in perhaps the most American ways possible, with guns and treachery.
The plot then shifts in its second half, and it's only after El Topo has had a bit of comeuppance and is hauled off to a cave by the downtrodden of the world that he shows a little humility, saying at last "I am not a God." Like a mole (the meaning of "topo"), he then tries to tunnel out of the cave to free these people. It reminded me of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt or perhaps better, Christ trying to enlighten his followers, given the violent town they enter, and their ultimate fate. It's telling that his son, now adult, is a monk, follows the dogma of organized religion, and is unphased by murder. The way the film ends suggests a depressing, cyclical nature to man's behavior. It's a fascinating framework for a story, one that kept me interested, but I couldn't fully embrace the lack of coherence, even if this plays a part in making the film so compelling, and the pacing was often sluggish.
This biggest problem, however, is the scene where El Topo the character - and apparently Jodorowsky himself according to a 1971 interview that he recently recanted - commits rape (on Mara Lorenzio). Even if I bought the story that as a young director he felt he needed to hype himself, that the sex that he still admits occurred was consensual despite the unequal power in the director/actor relationship and what I imagine to be pressure on Lorenzio, making that part of the story line for the protagonist - with the women being raped until she achieves orgasm, then falling in love with him - is disturbing in its own right. There are also several scenes where Jodorowsky ogles women's breasts like an adolescent, which I'm not a prude about by any means, but just seems hypocritical if not misogynistic in a film with grander aspirations.
I also took issue with Jodorowsky's treatment of animals. In different scenes we see disemboweled horses, crows that are shot on-screen, and dozens of dead bunnies, with a few dying in pain. I don't buy Jodorowsky's current statements, disavowing that he harmed animals, claiming they were purchased dead. He's also varied his story over time, having also said he did indeed harm them, but that ""at the time, I thought cinema was sacred." How unfortunate that this subversive, artistic hero turned out to be so painfully conventional in his treatment of women and his cruelty to animals. No matter what heights the film soared to, it always had a bad taste in my mouth because of it.