I think that was what I said to myself while I watched a bootleg of this underground cult-classic by the un-prolific but undeniably original surrealist Alejandro Jodorowsky. Because, frankly, even with all of the supposed symbolism injected into the film (some that sticks, some that really doesn't), shouldn't really detract from what makes the film work- or not for some. Basically, if you're going into this movie expecting another quasi-genre bending genre western via Sergio Leone, look elsewhere. El Topo is like one uncompromising fever dream that Leone might have had if he had taken a nice bite of peyote. Jodorowsky as writer, director, producer, has this attitude of 'why not' in his unique form of gonzo cinema, where it's more about taking in individual scenes, images, sights, like a manic freak-show with lots of harsh violence (for its time at least). And it did work for me, at least as long as I didn't take it TOO seriously.
To describe the 'story' of the film might be close to moot, but I'll just give a two-sentence sum-up. Jodorowsky plays El Topo, a lone, odd gunman who stops a group of wildly deranged bandits (a sign of things to come, making Leone's bandits look like playground kids), lets his naked son off with a group of monks, and sets off to defeat the four best gunmen in the world. After waking up years later after being shot by his former female co-patriots, he tries to help a group of invalid incestuous types make their way to the zealous, un-hinged town above, where his son is full-grown and the sanest in town. OK, if that may give an idea as to what the film is about, keep in mind that this was made in 1969/1970, at a time when a director like Jodorowsky was not only accepted but needed by movie fans who were looking for films that shook the culture. In that sense El Topo is close to being as important as Easy Rider. But to say it's as exceptional is really about as subjective as you can get.
Going into the film, all I really had to go on what to expect came from a documentary on midnight movies (where El Topo found its first audience as the first of its kind), and the clips shown and Jodorowsky's own words on it had me excited to see it- though not with the highest of expectations. Watching the film, and after reading several reviews, it's hard still for me to take the film 100% seriously, at least of it being a highly symbolic, poetic work of an art film. If anything, my perception of the film is that it is so ridiculous at times, so strange, and even so deliberate, that a director like Jodorowsky had to recognize the ridiculousness at times. That he also has a definite affinity for the outcasts and 'freaks' of life adds to the enjoyment, that he makes no bones about identifying with these those who are unusual (which make up the bulk of the picture). But it's success for its cult audience has to be due as much to its wild, hilarious appeal as for its art-film, if not more so. In a way, it's too much fun to be a dull, pretentious work- the filmmaker seems to be too talented to really force feed all of this to some amorphous blob of an audience.
So, is it a little dated, sure; does it have an entire midsection where certain scenes involving El Topo and his female tag-alongs that jump ahead and misses any conventional logic, of course; does it skate along the edge of being almost a very bad movie, absolutely. But as a fan of westerns, and surrealism, the two do merge well enough for the film El Topo, especially for the fact that it accomplishes what each do- it gives action and daring-do like the westerns, and it provides a level of humor and no-holds-barred outrageousness that marks the tops of surrealist works. If the look on your face at the end is that of a slight jaw-drop and raised eye-brow, however, it's a feeling that's shared by others I'm sure, at least by me.
To describe the 'story' of the film might be close to moot, but I'll just give a two-sentence sum-up. Jodorowsky plays El Topo, a lone, odd gunman who stops a group of wildly deranged bandits (a sign of things to come, making Leone's bandits look like playground kids), lets his naked son off with a group of monks, and sets off to defeat the four best gunmen in the world. After waking up years later after being shot by his former female co-patriots, he tries to help a group of invalid incestuous types make their way to the zealous, un-hinged town above, where his son is full-grown and the sanest in town. OK, if that may give an idea as to what the film is about, keep in mind that this was made in 1969/1970, at a time when a director like Jodorowsky was not only accepted but needed by movie fans who were looking for films that shook the culture. In that sense El Topo is close to being as important as Easy Rider. But to say it's as exceptional is really about as subjective as you can get.
Going into the film, all I really had to go on what to expect came from a documentary on midnight movies (where El Topo found its first audience as the first of its kind), and the clips shown and Jodorowsky's own words on it had me excited to see it- though not with the highest of expectations. Watching the film, and after reading several reviews, it's hard still for me to take the film 100% seriously, at least of it being a highly symbolic, poetic work of an art film. If anything, my perception of the film is that it is so ridiculous at times, so strange, and even so deliberate, that a director like Jodorowsky had to recognize the ridiculousness at times. That he also has a definite affinity for the outcasts and 'freaks' of life adds to the enjoyment, that he makes no bones about identifying with these those who are unusual (which make up the bulk of the picture). But it's success for its cult audience has to be due as much to its wild, hilarious appeal as for its art-film, if not more so. In a way, it's too much fun to be a dull, pretentious work- the filmmaker seems to be too talented to really force feed all of this to some amorphous blob of an audience.
So, is it a little dated, sure; does it have an entire midsection where certain scenes involving El Topo and his female tag-alongs that jump ahead and misses any conventional logic, of course; does it skate along the edge of being almost a very bad movie, absolutely. But as a fan of westerns, and surrealism, the two do merge well enough for the film El Topo, especially for the fact that it accomplishes what each do- it gives action and daring-do like the westerns, and it provides a level of humor and no-holds-barred outrageousness that marks the tops of surrealist works. If the look on your face at the end is that of a slight jaw-drop and raised eye-brow, however, it's a feeling that's shared by others I'm sure, at least by me.