El Topo has his son bury his first toy and a photo of his mother, then pulls him naked onto the back of a horse. His journey into manhood has begun.
But after El Topo avenges a vicious attack on a Mexican village, he leaves his son behind in the company of a group of young priests and rides of with pretty Mara instead.
Mara has a journey in mind for El Topo. She wants him to outgun the four masters, so that he becomes the master.
Complications arise when the woman in black shows up. Is she after El Tope’s affections? Mara’s perhaps? Will she spoil his quest?
When the fourth master commits suicide rather than engage in a gunfight with El Topo, he wonders where all of this has gotten him.
Then the woman in black fires a bullet into each hand and each foot, in a crucifixion of sorts.
Mara and the woman in black ride off together, leaving El Topo in the hands of a band of misfits and cave dwellers.
Next, El Topo sets out on a purer mission — freeing those cave dwellers. He begs for change in a bigoted town nearby. He takes all sorts of odd jobs.
When he isn’t begging or working in the town, he’s trying to dig a tunnel to free the cave dwellers.
That’s when his son, now grown, shows up. He wants his father dead for leaving him behind.
But he’ll let him finish this new mission first.
Alejandro Jodorowsky as El Topo in El Topo (1970)
Alejandro Jodorowsky as El Topo (1970)
Review:
Certainly one of the strangest Westerns you’ll come across, with lots and lots of blood, plenty of same-sex kissing, a castration, a bandit with a fetish for women’s shoes and several scenes you’re not likely to forget, including the conclusion.
How successful you think it is will likely depend on the viewer. In a special features interview with the DVD, director Jodorowsky describes it as the journey of a man who searches for spirituality and then peace, and in the process of doing so creates a catastrophe.
Brontis Jodorowsky as Son of El Topo in El Topo (1970)
Robert John as grown son of El Topo in El Topo (1970)
Directed by:
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Cast:
Alejandro Jodorowsky … El Topo
Brontis Jodorowsky … Son of El Topo as a boy
Mara Lorenzio … Mara
David Silva … The Colonel
Paula Romo … Woman in Black
Hector Martinez … Master #1
Juan Jose Gurrola … Master #2
Victor Fosado … Master #3
Agustin Isunza … Master #4
Jacqueline Luis … Small woman
Robert John … Son of El Topo as a man
aka:
The Gopher
The Mole
Score:
Alejandro Jodorowsky
and Nacho Mendez
Runtime: 125 min.
Mara Lorenzio as Mara in El Topo (1970)
Mara Lorenzio as Mara and Paula Romo as the Woman in Black in El Topo (1970)
Memorable lines:
El Topo: “Too much perfection is a mistake.”
Mara to El Topo: “I’d hate you if you lost. I want a winner. I don’t care how you do it. Cheat. Make up something. Trick him. I don’t care how you do it. There’s always a way to win. Find a way.”
El Topo, to his son: “You are 7 years old. You are a man. Bury your first toy and your mother’s picture.”
Hector Martinez as Master #1 in El Topo (1970)
Juan Jose Gurrola as Master #2 in El Topo (1970)
Victor Fosado as Master #3 in El Topo (1970)
Agustin Isunza as Master #4 in El Topo (1970)
Mara Lorenzio as Mara and Paula Romo as the Woman in Black enoy an intimate moment in El Topo (1970)
Alejandro Kodorosky as El Topo with Jacqueline Luis as the small woman in El Topo (1970)
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