There's a fine line between surrealistic entertainment & absolute repulsion in Alejandro Jodorowsky's classic. It's a line that is very blurry. Jodorowsky wrote, directed and stars as a gunslinger who takes on the four best sharpshooters around. He succeeds...or does he? The film is not a western in any traditional sense, but is instead an outrageous head trip full of A LOT of blood, a lot of bible inspired mysticism and a fair amount of gratuitous nudity. Jodorowsky, looking very Christ-like, has barely any dialog (and neither does anyone else), but somehow this nightmare of a film moves along quickly. The production values are outstanding. It's stunningly photographed with great editing. The film is populated with perhaps one freak too many -- one's eyes get exhausted at some of the sights. You will, however, never see anything like this.
Review of El Topo
