Review of El Topo (1970) by Tsubaki S — 15 Jun 2008
El Topo is probably one of the few films that truly embodies the term "cult movie". Hard to get for more than 30 years, almost to the point of making it a sort of urban legend, claimed to be adored by everyone from John Lennon to marketing tools like Marilyn Manson. El Topo ends up being, like many cult flicks, less of what you might think, and a lot more of what you didn't expected.
First of all, this is not a movie that can be easily pin to a single genre. While is mostly sold as a spaguetti western this is not your typical Leone-esque flick. The story is simplier from what many would think, the usual "lonely tough hero" following the usual path of the hero, falling from grace and then redemption. There is a lot of pseudo-spiritual and religious imagery and concepts all mix together that just don't stick well together. But i'll give credit to Jodorwsky for being quite creativy in terms of visuals, and for managing to give the usual "hero" arc story a viciously ironic twist.
This review of El Topo (1970) was written by Tsubaki S on 15 Jun 2008.
El Topo has generally received positive reviews.
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