A dreary, protracted exercise in sadomasochism.
El Topo (1970)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:6
Fresh:4
Rotten:2
Average Rating:6.8/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Genre: Westerns
Synopsis: With its combination of surreal imagery and assault on the ideals of the Western, EL TOPO may appear to be equal parts Luis Buñuel and Sam Peckinpah, but it's all Alejandro Jodorowsky. In addition... With its combination of surreal imagery and assault on the ideals of the Western, EL TOPO may appear to be equal parts Luis Buñuel and Sam Peckinpah, but it's all Alejandro Jodorowsky. In addition to his directing duties, Jodorowsky contributes to the film's writing, music, editing, and costumes, as well as starring as El Topo ("the Mole"). El Topo journeys across the desert to battle a group of gunfighters, but it's not the plot that's important in this midnight movie classic. The masterful blend of brutal violence and beautiful images make Jodorowsky's film essential viewing for anyone looking beyond the offerings of the megaplex. Decades have passed since its first screening, but EL TOPO hasn't lost any of its ability to shock and amaze. [More]
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Screenwriter: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Composer: Alejandro Jodorowsky
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Reviews for El Topo
This is gutbucket Luis Buñuel , surrealism on the cheap, and it hasn't dated well -- the blood is patently fake and the gunshots are dubbed.
You may find it a tiresome, macho relic -- or a ragtag circus wandering through a fantasy realm part Treasure of the Sierra Madre, part Tolkien's Middle-earth.
El Topo is a good deal more interesting and a good deal less hung up on its own pretensions than all my most intelligent friends had led me to believe.
Jodorowsky dazzles us with such delicate mythological footwork that the violence becomes distanced, somehow, and we accept it like the slaughters in the Old Testament.
An extravagant hodgepodge of hand-me-down surrealism, mysticism, Italian westerns, theater of cruelty, and Buñuel -- more enjoyable for its unending string of outrages than for its capacity to make coherent sense.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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