Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Jodorowsky's El Topo Is Available As A Download

By Jaclyn Mckee

El Topo is really a truly one of a kind western film, completely unlike anything you've seen before. It's hard to know where to begin. Next time you want to watch movies online, just give El Topo a try and see what you think.

The movie follows El Topo, a black hat gunfighter who goes out with his young son to avenge the death of the mother. As the movie opens, El Topo has his son bury a picture of the mother, symbolically saying goodbye to his childhood and becoming a man. The two travel across the desert on horseback in search of vengeance.

After exacting their revenge, the father abandons the boy to the church before going back into the desert with his new lover. The woman insists that he kill the top four killers in the desert before she can love him, as such that she can truly be with the strongest man. They wander the sands for at least a decade trying to seek out all four of these men.

Each of the killers is a fascinating character in their own right, such as the big burly man whose incredible strength also gives him incredible muscle control, so he has the ability to create incredibly delicate, fragile structures out of toothpicks, which Topo cannot even touch without destroying. Then there's the old man who's grown into a cynical nihilist after so many years of violence. He uses a butterfly net to deflect bullets, and has no other possessions in the world.

After being betrayed by his lover, El Topo goes into a coma for several years, sleeping in the heart of a mountain, a cocoon of sorts, as he will eventually be reborn as a savior. He dons a priestly robe and shaves his head and attempts to redeem himself, but must first find the same forgiveness in his heart that he seeks from the world.

He reunites with his son and finds that the religious life has just as many troubles as the life of a skillful killer, that the world is a harsh, difficult place no matter who you are or what your background.

The movie is deeply rooted in religious symbolism. There are so many different religions on display here, Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, that it really becomes its own thing, almost its own religion in a sense. Whatever it is, it's all Jodorowsky.

The movie feels incredibly eerie, it is incredibly violent, shocking, bizarre, it may offend you, but it will also enlighten you, it will elevate you and it will educate you. It is a story of hatred and of love, of revenge and of peace and forgiveness. The trailer says that it is "The single greatest experience of your life", and while that may be a little bit hyperbolic, you've never seen a movie quite like this.

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