El Topo (1968), 2/10, Cleveland Cinematheque

I wasn’t sure what to think as I was leaving the theater after this movie. It was freezing cold, and my friend Kevin and I shot the shit with a friend of his for a few minutes before the cold got to be unbearable. Now, having a couple of days for the movie to sink in, I can say for sure that I liked this movie a lot.

One way to begin describing this movie is that it’s a Sergio Leone style spaghetti Western seen through the eyes of Salvador Dali. The open desert of the “Wild West” is the setting for the film, perfect for the expansive imagination of director and star of the film, Alejandro Jodorowsky. I dug around the Internet for a bit and discovered Jodorowsky also has a lucrative career as a writer of comic books, mostly in French. Some have been translated into English.

For some, this movie with it’s excessive gore (though often laughable), surreal elements and mystical themes is inaccessible. If, however, you dig this kind of stuff, you will wish Jodorowsky was doing more.

This film and others will be released on DVD in May of 2007. Get a look here and it will become your quest to see these films or there is no hope for you.