IMDb > El topo (1970)
El topo
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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   5,873 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Writer:
Alejandro Jodorowsky (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for El topo on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 April 1971 (Mexico) more
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
2 wins more
User Comments:
Easily one of the strangest movies ever made! more (100 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
The Gopher
The Mole
more
Runtime:
125 min
Country:
Language:
Colour:
Aspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Klangfilm)

Fun Stuff

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'. more
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.
more
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FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
43 out of 55 people found the following comment useful.
Easily one of the strangest movies ever made!, 24 January 2002
Author: Infofreak from Perth, Australia

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!

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for El topo (1970)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Worst movie ever! YeahResident
Which is sicker . . . tracyfigueira
lottta symbolism pika317-1
Jodorowsky is a GENIUS!why cant he get proper backing for another film? forry-777
Question eco_go5
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