Tweet
Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: 4/26/2011
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Cast: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Year: 1970
Purchase From Amazon
The Movie:
A black-garbed gunfighter, El Topo, accompanied by his young, naked son ride through the desert on their horse. They stop in a seemingly random location where the gunfighter tells his son that it is time he became a man and forces him to bury the picture of his mother and the small toy he is carrying with him. They then ride to a nearby town where the inhabitants lay dead, seeping torrents of blood into the streets. A group of bandits led by 'the Colonel' are responsible according to the one loan man still left alive, so El Topo tracks him down, castrates him and tells him that he is God before the Colonel kills himself in front of his men.
Mara, the Colonel's personal sex toy, rides off with El Topo and convinces him that he should hunt down the four masters of the desert, a group of gunfighters that seem to have reached some heightened state and can no longer be killed by conventional methods. As El Topo takes down his opponents, in turn he becomes what they were and adds to his abilities until he too reaches a heightened state.
Through an odd twist of fate, at the end of this quest El Topo becomes disillusioned with life, and retreats off to the caves to become a monk, where he may or may not have been reborn. The end of the film places El Topo at a crucial paradox where his past confronts him and he must question everything that he believes in.
At times both reverent and blasphemous, El Topo, which means 'the mole' in Spanish, transcends traditional 'spaghetti western' boundaries and becomes very much it's own unique beast. Adding to the films unusual ambience is the fact that writer/director Jodorowsky not only plays the title character, but also cast his real life son, Brontis Jodorowsky, as his naked companion at the beginning of the film. Interesting then that the film deals with paternal issues using various characters to represent Jodorowsky's real life father. Although the film is blatantly bizarre, it's really a fictional document of one character's life and subsequent rebirth in his pursuit for truth, meaning and justice. When the character of El Topo shaves his head and changes his occupation he fully intends to change his ways and work for the greater good. It's only when he completes his tunnel and he frees the 'monsters' who are subsequently slaughtered by the townsfolk that he's once again forced into his old and violent ways. Is this a statement on the nature of man? Humanity's inherent penchant for violence? Or is it simply an interesting plot device that provides ample opportunity to exploit bloody violence and shock the audience? The truth is, it's both and Jodorowsky would be the first to admit it. The film manages to combine scenes of shocking bloodshed with violent sexuality and then contrast them with tender and romantic character driven moments and transcendental scenes of mysticism. Shot using very few close ups and with a cast of relatively unknown actors and actresses most of whom Jodorowsky simply 'found' the picture has a very unique look. It recycles sets from old westerns and takes place primarily in the desert of Mexico, but its themes and message are not wholly confined to that one specific location and in fact are quite universal.
Filled with surreal religious imagery, violent symbolism, and shocking metaphors, the film leaves both everything and nothing to your imagination with stunning cinematography, and stirring locations. Jodorowsky is manic but believable and lends some very personal influence to his film. Very much a spiritual western, with more than a hint of Leone influenced grandeur, El Topo is a true cult classic.
Video/Audio/Extras:
El Topo debuts on Blu-ray in its original fullframe aspect ratio in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer that generally looks very good. The film was given a pretty thorough restoration so only very minor print damage is evident, though there are a few spots that do show some minor noise reduction. Thankfully this isn't a constant problem nor is it really all that detrimental to the presentation. Detail is generally very good, with nice texture evident throughout the film, particularly in the different costumes worn by the different characters in the film. Colors are very well defined here and pop a lot more than you might expect for a film of this age. As the transfer was taken from the original negative under Jodorowsky's supervision, it should be in keeping with how he wants it to look and it's hard to argue with the results.
Spanish language options are provided in DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 Stereo while the English track is presented in LPCM 2.0 Stereo. Optional subtitles are provided in English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and French. Oddly enough, the LPCM tracks have more punch to them than the 5.1 track does. The 5.1 track gets the edge for channel separation and by spreading the score around and will please those who want a surround mix for the film, but the Spanish language 2.0 mix sounded better to these ears. Regardless of which option you go for, the audio here is clean, clear and well balanced. There are no problems with hiss or distortion nor are there any problems with any cracks or pops in the mix. It all sounds very good.
The most important extra feature on the El Topo Blu-ray is an audio commentary from Alejandro Jodorowsky, conducted in Spanish with English subtitles (and, like all the extras on this disc, carried over from the DVD release from a few years ago). Rather candid at times and refreshingly blunt about where he was at in his personal life while making this picture, Jodorowsky explains some of the symbolism in the film and gives us quite a bit of information about the picture. He explains how the rape scene was not faked and how he found the actress who played the first female lead while she was sort of wandering around permanently stoned after taking five hundred hits of LSD. He's open about the misogyny of the film and admits that he was quite down in his portrayal and his thoughts on women at this point in his life and he details how John Lennon and Yoko Ono opened the doors for this picture. Jodorowsky also explains some of the semi-autobiographical parts of the film, pointing out where his wife at the time appears and how his son Brontis was brought on to play the young naked boy at the beginning of the movie. He elaborates on the female and male side of the character of El Topo and discusses his thoughts on gender psychology and he explains some of the religious symbolism that plays a key role in the picture. He also addresses the film's critics, defending the film's brutal violence and explaining why it's there in the first place, and at the same time he expresses regret over the real life animal violence we see in the movie. He covers the paternal and maternal issues he dealt with as a child that play a part in the themes of the film and he talks about Elvis' influence on El Topo's costume. He also explains the changes that El Topo the character goes through, the meaning of the title and how it relates to the tunnel as well as his use of physically handicapped actors and actresses in the film, explaining that he's drawn to real life monsters and sees them as biologically creative. Make sure to listen to the track all the way through, as over the end credits Jodorowsky goes on a very interesting rant against modern cinema, blaming the actors and the theater owners for killing art films in favor of more profitable mainstream pap. Although there are some moments of silence here and there, this is a very interesting and eye opening track that covers a lot of ground and which does a great job of explaining more abstract parts of the picture and also in detailing its interesting production history. It's not a politically correct track by any stretch but it gives the man a chance to explain his side of the story and to rage against what the modern filmmaking community has become. At times it is angry and at times it is pompous but like the film it's discussing, this track is never dull.
ABKCO Films has also included an all new seven-minute on camera video interview with Jodorowsky who speaks in English about making the film. While he covers some of the same ground here as he does in the commentary track, it's a blast to watch how animated he gets and his sense of humor shines through when he talks about the one benefit of making El Topo was that it allowed him to 'fuck any woman I wanted.' He discusses what it was like mending his relationship with Allen Klein after all these years and he talks about how John Lennon and Yoko Ono introduced the film and helped it to find an audience. Accompanying the video are plenty of clips from the film as well as some archival photographs.
Rounding out the extra features is the film's original theatrical trailer presented with English voice-over and clocking in at almost five-minutes in length, disc credits, and a photo gallery and original script excerpts and production photos. All of the extras are in AVC encoded high definition, though the interview is letterboxed.
The Final Word:
While this Blu-ray doesn't bring anything new to the table in terms of extra features, it does offer up a considerably more detailed and textured transfer than that DVD offered and improved lossless audio as well. The film itself is excellent, one that not only holds up well to repeat viewings but seems to offer something new with each revisit.
Click on the images below for large size Blu-ray screen caps!
