Why do we like El Topo so much?

Well, my best attempt to explain why is to paraphrase Alejandro Jodorowsky himself. He once said that many directors make their films with their eyes. He makes his with his "cojones". For me, i guess that's why i admire the man and his movies: he made them with "cojones". No pussy-footing for ol' Jodo! And you got to admire that! I certainly do.

"This are Nice shoes! Couldn't you afford some real Nike?"

I haven't seen much of El Topo. I want to, but I haven't had sufficient access to it. I have, however, seen Fando and Lis and will suggest something based on that viewing. How many movies remind us of the pure possibility of life? As I see it, most movies have events that unfold in a certain direction, with certain meanings nailed down. It seems to me that Jodorowsky's work addresses us where we are, not in a place of pat meanings but of wonder, of still discovering reality, of still being alive to redefine it. A movie whose makers have given themselves the liberty to marvel like newborns at violence and sunlight and mystical happenings even they don't understand, seems to me an honest stance. I worked at a post production facility where my bosses were copying a rare laser disk of El Topo. "Look at this terrible movie, Steve," my boss told me. "But I think you'll like it." One of the things I really disliked about my boss was that he used to tell me, along with helpful technical information, what "life" was "really all about." What was he, a religious guru simply because he handed me a paycheck? I found him to be an arrogant prick in the end and he was the reason I finally quit. I don't like people telling me what life is all about. I think I just like people better who admit they know nothing and can marvel with the rest of us. It's refreshing.

"And a Happy New Year to you, George Bailey.... in jail!"

Well I just finished watching the film and I love it.
Know why?
because It is like a hollywood version of my all time favourite film;
'The color of pomegranites' By Sergei Parajanov

I cant believe that I've never stumbled across El Topo before.

If you like El Topo then check out the films by Parajanov, you'll be glad you did - they could almost be by the same director - and strangely enough 'color of pomegranites' was made in 1968 (I wonder if Jodorowsky saw it?)
Suram fortress by Parajanov even has a similar-ish story.

The reason that I love this type of film?
Because everything today is too damned litteral, the story is always in the dialogue, the effects are so much larger than life they are no longer conected with the reality that I, for one, live in and the subjects are always vaguely propogandistic or at least 'good examples'.
This film works on a level beneath litteral language, it is intuitive and almost purely visual and symbolic. you could watch it in swahili or greek and it would still make as much sense (which is more than most films in english).

But most of all when I watch a tale told like this, I suspend disbelief entirely, I understand that the old woman is wise because she has an owl nailed to her little desk and I dont care that her buttons do up differently in different scenes. For a moment I become just like thousands of people have done throughout the ages down through time - completely wrapped up in the multiplicity of messages as the travelling storyteller uses all the skills that were passed down to him.

As oposed to feeling left out if I can't say that I've been to see the latest thin story that some meeting in a large corporation has decided to go with, in a watered down version (to reduce the risk) and only then because there might be merchandising spin offs.




Seriously though take a look at
pomegranites
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063555/
and follow the directors link to his other films too.

i will relate something i just read in a book about sufism (a creed which is all over jodorowsky and el topo in particular)

from "the sufis", idries shah:
There is a story in Aesop's fables about a young mole who went to his mother and told her that he could see. Now, as most people know, sight is something traditionally lacking in moles. This one's mother decided to test him. She accordingly placed in front of him a piece of frankinscence, and asked him what it was.
"A stone," said the little mole.
"Not only are you blind", his mother answered, "but you have lost your sense of smell as well."...
"Mole" in Arabic (khuld, from the radical KHLD) is written in the same way as khalad, which stands for "eternity, thought, mind, soul," according to the context. Because only the consonants are written, there is no way of telling, in isolation, which word is intended.

this mystic tidbit is certainly not lost on jodorowsky... i think thats why his films are so appealing. the mystery flowing from thousands of years of spiritual symbolism... even if one does not recognize every particular symbol or reference, there is great power innately vested in these thoughts.

el topo is a "western". there is a double meaning to this... the film not only plays with the film genre, "western", it also symbolically depicts the experience of the search for meaning in the western world.

rather be forgotten than remembered for giving in.

I like the guy with no legs carrying around the guy with no arms.. TEAMWORK!!

Also, that crazed Russin roulette scene.

I like it because it defies explanation and constantly challenges the viewer to think. It works whether you are looking for a story line or just want some cool, hypnotic imagery to take you out of your little world for a few hours. The cinematography and design of this film are impeccable. I only with the sound design wasn't so distracting. 8/10 stars from me.