El topo (1970)

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writer:

Alejandro Jodorowsky (written by)

Release Date:

15 April 1971 (Mexico)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Western

Tagline:

The Definitive Cult Spaghetti Western

Plot:

The gunfighter El Topo ("The Mole") and his young son ride through a desert to a village, whose inhabitants have been massacred...

Plot Keywords:

El Topo | Desert | Tunnel | Monk | Dwarf

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Alejandro Jodorowsky	...	El Topo
Brontis Jodorowsky	...	Son of El Topo, as a boy
José Legarreta	...	Dying Man
Alfonso Arau	...	Bandit #1
José Luis Fernández	...	Bandit #2
Alf Junco	...	Bandit #3 (as Alí Junco)
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Bandit #4 (as Gerardo Cepeda)
René Barrera	...	Bandit #5
René Alís	...	Bandit #6
Federico Gonzáles	...	Bandit #7
Vicente Lara	...	Bandit #8
Pablo Leder	...	Monk #1
Giuliano Girini Sasseroli	...	Monk #2
Cristian Merkel	...	Monk #3
Aldo Grumelli	...	Monk #4

Also Known As:

The Gopher
The Mole

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm)

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | South Korea:18 | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM18 (1974) | Australia:R (DVD rating) | Netherlands:18 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Estudios América, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Producciones Panicas

Trivia:

Other noteworthy figures said to be fans of the film, besides John Lennon and Yoko Ono, include directors David Lynch and Samuel Fuller, actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, and performers Bob Dylan, Marilyn Manson, and Peter Gabriel. It has been claimed that this movie was the beginning of Gabriel's inspiration for the classic Genesis concept album, 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'.

Quotes:

[first lines]
El Topo: [to his son] You are seven years old. You are a man. Bury your first toy and your mother's picture.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist' (1998) (TV)

Easily one of the strangest movies ever made!

I have seen three movies by Alejandro Jodorowsky - 'El Topo', 'The Holy Mountain' and 'Santa Sangre' - each are amazing, but 'El Topo' to me is the most successful. I was almost going to say "most accessible" but that would be misleading! It's still a difficult movie, steeped in religious and occult symbolism and allegory. I doubt whether anyone but Jodorowsky himself truly "gets it", but it is still the most watchable and entertaining of the three, and the best introduction to his work.

Jodorowsky not only writes and directs he plays the title role (translates as "The Mole"), a mysterious black-clad gunfighter who claims to be God. I won't bore with a detailed retelling of the plot, but it initially involves El Topo's quest to find and fight the four masters of the desert, and ends up with him becoming part of strange community of outcasts who live underground. But there's much more to than that, just watch it for yourself.

'El Topo' was a cult favourite thirty years ago, and still stands as one of the most extraordinary movies ever made. Nobody but Jodorowsky has even come close to repeating it. Currently difficult to find, but persevere, it's worth looking for. A truly unique piece of cinema that no-one who watches will ever forget!