El topo (1970)

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writer:

Alejandro Jodorowsky (written by)

Release Date:

15 April 1971 (Mexico)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Western

Tagline:

The Definitive Cult Spaghetti Western

Plot:

The gunfighter El Topo ("The Mole") and his young son ride through a desert to a village, whose inhabitants have been massacred...

Plot Keywords:

El Topo | Desert | Tunnel | Monk | Dwarf

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Alejandro Jodorowsky	...	El Topo
Brontis Jodorowsky	...	Son of El Topo, as a boy
José Legarreta	...	Dying Man
Alfonso Arau	...	Bandit #1
José Luis Fernández	...	Bandit #2
Alf Junco	...	Bandit #3 (as Alí Junco)
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Bandit #4 (as Gerardo Cepeda)
René Barrera	...	Bandit #5
René Alís	...	Bandit #6
Federico Gonzáles	...	Bandit #7
Vicente Lara	...	Bandit #8
Pablo Leder	...	Monk #1
Giuliano Girini Sasseroli	...	Monk #2
Cristian Merkel	...	Monk #3
Aldo Grumelli	...	Monk #4
Mara Lorenzio	...	Mara
David Silva	...	The Colonel
Ignacio Martínez España	...	Armless man
Eliseo Gardea Saucedo	...	Legless man
Héctor Martínez	...	Master #1 (as Hector Martinez 'El Borrado')
Paula Romo	...	Woman in black
Bertha Lomelí	...	Gypsy, Mother of Master #2 (as Berta Lomeli)
Juan José Gurrola	...	Master #2
Víctor Fosado	...	Master #3
Agustín Isunza	...	Master #4
Jacqueline Luis	...	Small woman
Carlos Lavenant	...	Executioner #1
Eliseo Pereda	...	Executioner #2
Pablo Marichal	...	Slave
Beatriz Beltrán Lobo	...	Woman #1
Carmen Lamadrid	...	Woman #2
Pepita González	...	Woman #3
Cecilia Leger	...	Woman #4 (as Cecilia Leguer)
Elvira Agosti	...	Woman #5
Antonio Álvarez	...	Prisoner #1
Rueben Gonzáles	...	Prisoner #2 (as Rubén González)
Víctor Manuel Osorio	...	Prisoner #3
José Pérez Bustos	...	Prisoner #4
Eduardo Danel	...	Prisoner #5
Álvaro García	...	Prisoner #6 (as Alvaro García)
José Antonio Alcaraz	...	Sheriff
Felipe Díaz Garza	...	Deputy (as Felipe Diazgarza)
Patricio Pereda	...	The child
Marcos E. Contreras	...	Boxer #1
Arturo Silva	...	Boxer #2
Robert John	...	Son of El Topo, as a man
Julián de Meriche	...	Priest (as Julien de Meriche)
Valerie Tremblay	...	Woman in church (as Valerie Trumblay)
José Luis González de León	...	Man in church (as J.L. González de León)
Francisco González Salazar	...	Shopkeeper
Pedro García	...	Man with carrot

Directed by
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Writing credits
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(written by) (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Produced by
Mick Gochanour	....	producer
Mick Gochanour	....	restored version
Robin Klein	....	producer
Juan López Moctezuma	....	producer
Moshe Rosemberg	....	producer (as Moishe Rosemberg)
Saúl Rosemberg	....	producer
Roberto Viskin	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Nacho Méndez

Cinematography by
Rafael Corkidi

Film Editing by
Federico Landeros

Production Design by
Alejandro Jodorowsky

Art Direction by
José Durán

Set Decoration by
José Luis Garduño

Costume Design by
Alejandro Jodorowsky

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
José Luis González de León	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Gonzalo Gavira	....	sound effects engineer
Lilia Lupercio	....	sound editor

Other crew
Humberto Gurza	....	animal wrangler
Miguel Gurza	....	animal wrangler
'Chema' Hernandez	....	livestock coordinator
Luz María Rojas	....	production assistant
Vicente Rojo	....	title designer
Jorge Rubio Salazar	....	production assistant (as Jorge Rubio)

Production Companies

• Producciones Panicas

Distributors

• Douglas Films (1970) (USA)
• Abkco Films (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Caméra One (1975) (France) (theatrical)
• Pretty Pictures (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Tuschinski Film Distribution (1975) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Amuse Soft (Amyuuzu Sofuto) Hanbai Inc. (Japan) (laserdisc) (VHS distributor)
• Amuse Video (Japan) (laserdisc) (VHS releaser)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Pictures (1973) (Canada)
• DMEG (2004) (Sweden) (video)
• Gruppo Minerva International (199?) (Italy) (VHS)
• Nikkatsu
• Nouveaux Pictures
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Raro Video (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (re-release)
• Rosebud Video (France) (VHS)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2007) (UK) (DVD)
• Unknown Video (video)
• VCL Communications

Other Companies

• Postworks New York  HD restoration and color correction (2006)
• Section 49 of Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Cinematográfica (STIC)  technical support

Also Known As:

The Gopher
The Mole

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Klangfilm)

Certification:

Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Australia:MA (2007 re-rating) | South Korea:18 | West Germany:18 | Italy:VM18 (1974) | Australia:R (DVD rating) | Netherlands:18 | UK:18 | Hong Kong:III | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Estudios América, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

Company:

Producciones Panicas

Trivia:

The title of the movie and the main character's name are a metaphor of the underground cinema in the sixties. The mole digs holes so as to emerge from the underground to the surface. This was happening with some low-budget movies that quickly gained mainstream popularity.

Quotes:

[first lines]
El Topo: [to his son] You are seven years old. You are a man. Bury your first toy and your mother's picture.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist' (1998) (TV)

A religious allegorical western of redemption with surrealist imagery.

"El Topo", is probably Jodorowsky's most talked about film next to "Santa Sangre". Like all his films it is bizarre and full of symbolism. El Topo is a cowboy dressed in black. He is out for vengeance, kind of like the Biblical God of the old testament. Him and his son ride through a town of massacred civilians. He wants justice and to win the heart of a girl, Mara. He gives up his only son, in an act that could be looked at like God, or even Abraham. He has to kill seven master gunfighters. After all the violence and carnage, he is injured and taken under the care of cripples, dwarfs and other various misfits. He is reborn, almost like a Bhuddist monk. He becomes like the new testament God, Jesus Christ. El Topo is now like a savior to the oppressed. He vows to dig a tunnel out of the cave so the cripples can live among the villagers. The town is taken over by religious fanatics. Poor villagers are branded with the religious icon by force. An upper class of elitists now dominate the town. "El Topo" is beautiful, and chocked full of violent and disturbing imagery. The film became a popular cult sensation in the early 70's. It was embraced by the likes of John Lennon, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd. More recently celebrities like Marilyn Manson and the Coen Brothers have talked about being strongly influenced by Jodorowsky's work. "El Topo" is important, because it was the first midnight movie. If people could forget about "the Rocky Horror Picture Show" just for a second, they'd realize that this is one of the most important cult films. A bizarre and surreal western that can never be imitated. The only 3 surreal westerns I can think of to pre-date "El Topo" that have many similarities are Brazilian director Glauber Rocha's "Black God, White Devil" (1964) and his follow up "Antonio Das Mortes" (1969) and the Italian Spaghetti western "Django, Kill if you Live, Shoot" (1967).