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I first saw this movie at the Elgin Cinema in NYC, directly after its run at the Museum of Modern Art. In fact, I've seen it many times as there is so much symbolism in this movie, simultaneous symbolism, that it is a very difficult film to grasp in one viewing. As you've heard, it took over 30 years to be released on video because of a dispute. And as you can also see, some love it, some hate, and others have no idea what its about. IMHO, its one of the most brilliant movies ever made. I would characterize it most simply as an "eastern western," that is, a western with strong eastern philosophical leanings.
If you haven't seen it, see it. At least then you can join the controversy.
If you have seen it and haven't a clue what its about, I'll attempt to summarize it for you below.
(SPOILER ALERT)
The story concerns a man, who is known by the name of El Topo (the mole). He is called the mole because he is like that animal. That is, a mole is an animal that spends most of its life underground, in darkness, searching for the light (wisdom). However, should it find the light of day, it is blinded by the sun. Similarly, this person spends his life in spiritual darkness in a search for true enlightenment. But when he achieves his ultimate goal, it is far too painful to deal with.
El Topo is a western style cowboy who tries to be a good man - helping people, righting wrongs. Think the Lone Ranger. When he sees wrong, he uses his guns to provide justice.
The movie opens with him assisting his son in the passage towards adulthood. His son is naked to symbolize his purity and honesty.
Traveling, they encounter a mass murder. El Topo is determined to avenge this crime. He is successful in this effort but after defeating the murderers, Mara, a woman who worked for them asks if El Topo can take her with him. He agrees. Howwever, in time, she works to manipulate and control him. While he sees this happening, her sexuality is too overpowering for him to resist.
She wants him to abandon his son, to leave him with some priests and to travel with her alone. He agrees, knowing that what he is about to do is wrong. He asks his son for forgiveness. The son becomes dressed in the robes of the priests.
While El Topo enjoys relaxing with Mara, she is not content. She makes demands. She wants him to display his power, to become the most powerful person on earth, or she will leave him. She explains that there are several masters who live out in the desert. Only after he has defeated them all will he be the best. Only after that will she love him.
Reluctantly, to ensure her love, he confronts each of these masters. However, these are not criminals. These are the finest, holiest people on earth. They are masters of life, each having mastered a certain aspect of how life should be lived. Each master that he meets is at a higher level of spirituality than the previous master. Each succeeding master that he meets has fewer and fewer possessions. The final has only a loin cloth and a butterfly net. El Topo realizes that it is wrong to challenge and attempt to defeat/destroy these holy people, but he must do this to make Mara happy and keep her love. He also realizes that these people, besides being very holy, are both extremely powerful and smart....far more powerful and smart than he is. Therefore, the only possible way that he can defeat them is by using deception, trickery. The masters are each incredibly good and honest people. In the end, Topo kills them all, through trickery. But when you win through trickery, have you really won? In attempting to kill the final master, who is dressed in a loin cloth and carries a butterfly net, El Topo takes out his gun. The final master, laughing, waves his butterfly net menacingly. When El Topo shoots at the master, the master uses his net to return the bullet into the sand. "Come, try to shoot me again," says the Master. "The next bullet that you fire I will return to your heart." El Topo throws down his gun, crying. He realizes that he has been defeated. The master attempts to comfort him. "Why are you crying?" he says, "I have nothing that you could have taken from me." "I could have taken your life," says El Topo, weeping. "My life?" laughs the final master, "My life is unimportant. Here, give me your gun. I will show you." El Topo gives the final master his gun. The master takes the gun and shoots himself in the mouth. As he lies dying, he whispers to El Topo, "You lose." The final master is dead.
El Topo's goal had been to win back Mara's love by defeating the masters. However, achieving this goal does not bring the happiness he was seeking. The actions he has taken now tear at his soul. Also, Mara is no longer interested in El Topo. She takes up with another young, attractive woman gunslinger, dressed in black, just as El Topo. She speaks in a deep male voice. Mara has no further need of him. She takes his gun and shoots him, then rides off with the woman in black.
El Topo's wounded body is carried away by the local leper colony. They bring him to their cave to heal him. His hair turns all white. He is being purified, cleansed. Finally, he is reborn through loving care and magic. He is appreciative and is determined now to dedicate himself to helping these people. He shaves his head. He wears plain brown, simple clothes. He will not carry a gun ever again. The lepers have been banished by the townspeople and are forced to live in a dark cave far from the city. (as a mole would) They want to be allowed back into society, into the world. El Topo will assist them in their efforts at freedom. However, the lepers are very unwelcome by the townspeople, who are incredibly selfish, evil people. El Topo decides that he will meet with the townspeople, work for them in order to earn money for both himself and the lepers and to make friends with them, so that his friends, the lepers, will be able to become full fledged members of the town. With the money that he makes, he buys equipment to assist him in digging a hole from their underground leper colony to the surface, and freedom.
El Topo marries one of the leper ladies who has been the kindest to him since his arrival. They go into town to be married by the local priest. El Topo recognizes the priest as his son, now grown up. His son recognizes his father and is enraged at El Topo for abandoning him. He begins beating him with his fists. El Topo does not fight back. He is bloodied and on the ground. The woman pleads with the priest to stop his attack. She explains that El Topo has changed...that he is a very good man now, doing good work....trying to assist the lepers in obtaining their freedom. The son listens and finally agrees to the following - he will permit his father to complete his work in helping the lepers. However, after his work is complete, he will kill him. In the meantime, he agrees to marry his father and this woman.
El Topo completes the opening to the cave. The lepers now have their tunnel to freedom, their tunnel to what they see as enlightenment, their tunnel to the light of day.
When he finishes the digging, the son says that he will now kill his father. El Topo stands straight, prepared to die. But the son begins crying. "I cannot kill my master," he says. He throws down his gun.
El Topo realizes that his next goal is to prepare the town for the lepers, to gain their acceptance. He must go to town and talk with them. When they are ready to accept the lepers, he will tell them to enter the town. But the lepers are not in a patient mood. They can no longer wait to see the light of day. They want to come into the light now. The minute they realize that the path to the surface has been completed, they run out of the cave, and walk towards the town. They intend to become citizens of the town. That is their goal. That will be their ultimate happiness.
But El Topo knows that the townspeople aren't yet ready to receive these people. If they go into town now, the townspeople will destroy them. When he learns that they have journeyed to town, he runs there as fast as he can. When he arrives, he sees that he is too late. The townspeople, using their guns, have killed all of the lepers.
El Topo falls on the ground, crying loudly. He is devastated. He is filled with rage at the townspeople for what they have done. He walks towards them. They all shoot at him but the bullets bounce off. He takes a gun from one of the townspeople and begins shooting at them. Eventually, he kills them all.
After they are all dead, he sits on the ground in a lotus position. He pours oil from an oil lamp all over himself. He then sets himself on fire. He will immolate himself in protest for what has taken place here. He hopes that this action will make the world a better place. After a few minutes, all that is left of El Topo is a skeleton. Then, even the skeleton has been consumed. When the fire finally goes out, we see that his body has been transformed not to dust but to pure honey...with all of the bees of the world gathering there......
Brontis, his son, has now changed his garb from priest to gunslinger. He is now dressed all in black, just like his father was. He walks with El Topo's wife and young son. They get on a black horse, just as El Topo rode on, and move on to the next town. We see now that the son must follow the same path as the father. For such is life. It continues in a circle, and must be self-taught.
My favorite line from the movie is "Too much perfection is a mistake."
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Top reviews from other countries
Richard Coulombe
Beware, this title is a new 4k restoration, but on standard Blu-ray, not UHD
Reviewed in Canada on September 30, 2022
