Movie: El Topo (1970)
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL
Plot:
A bunch of shit happens, but I have no fucking clue what. Hilarity ensues.
Background and Reaction:
Keith warned us that this movie would be weird. "A Western from another dimension" was one way of putting it. He also made some allusions to LSD. He understated it. This was just completely bizarre, with odd imagery and transitions, and strange goings on.
I spent the early part of the movie admiring the visuals and thinking "Wow! I have no idea what's going on, but this is stunning to look at." As it wore on -- and I still had little clue as to what was going on -- I found my thoughts changing. I was eventually thinking "Wow! This is still stunning to look at, but when is this going to end?" The storytelling was awful. I could usually understand what was going on in a particular scene. But, like a fever dream, it was hard to understand how any of the scenes fit together.
The movie itself was both incredibly beautiful and intensely ugly -- a fact that's a testament to the cinematography. Of course, that was heightened by the soundtrack, which often was a cocophanous mix of various sounds such as sheep bleating and bagpipes. There was all manner of purposeful imagery -- religious, violent sexual.
This was quite the experience to watch. If only I understood it.
Ratings:
First, a note about the ratings. After last week, I was thinking about my ratings, and decided that they are afflicted with grade inflation. I explained all the ways that I didn't care for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and then gave it an 8. Most people would see a rating of 8 and think that means I really liked it. With that in mind, I am trying to avoid giving these too high a grade.
Me: 4 (which was overly generous)
Christina: 10
Dave: 9.0 - 9.1
Ethan: 2
Scott: 3
Sean: 4 out of 4
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