El Topo Book Summary
Summary ratings: 3 stars
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300
Published: June 23, 2007
El Topo, which was once a "midnight movie" favorite, follows the surreal journey of a Mexican gunfighter, known only as "El Topo", meaning the mole. He travels on horseback through the desert with his seven year old son, beginning their journey by telling his son that today he is seven years old, and he is a man and must leave his mother behind. His son proceeds to bury a picture of his mother in the sand. As the two journey through the desert, El Topo fights bandits and meets a woman who encourages him to abandon his son and help her find four mythical gunfighters in the desert, who each have a magical power, and he must defeat them. He abandons his son, and follows this woman through the desert, finding another rival woman along the way. After he has defeat the gunfighters, he finds that many years have passed when he wakes up in an underground village, inhabited by people with rare deformities as a result of years of incest. He must once again become a gunfighter and defeat bandits who are trying to attack the villagers. He is met with the shock of finding his son is now a grown man and is a lone gunfighter as well.The film is filled with surreal and religious imagery, often overshadowing the plot. Many times it is difficult to interpret the message of the film because the images are so subjective. If you are looking for a film with an easy to follow plot, with a clear beginning, middle, and end, this is not the film for you, but if you are are looking for a film that is surreal, confusing and visually stunning, El Topo is a film you will never forget.