After Django Unchained: 10 Must-See Westerns

1. El Topo

Men buried in a grave of dead rabbits, an incestuous colony of disabled outcasts and a man who can catch bullets in a butterfly net; these images rank amongst the many comical, surreal and downright terrifying smorgasbord of ridiculousness that Alejandro Jodorowsky packs into his 1970 masterpiece, El Topo. Understood as the world's first "cult" movie, El Topo is an extremely violent and discombobulating exercise in genre manipulation.

While Tarantino states that his latest film is not a Western, but a "Southern", Jodorowsky claimed back in the 70s that his movie was not a Western but an "Eastern"; unveiling the fairly recycled nature of a lot of Tarantino's claims to ingenuity and originality. Indeed, the term Eastern seems to describe this movie nicely. It explores the spiritual enlightenment of the gun slinging maestro, El Topo (The Mole), as he traverses through a desert to defeat its four gun masters.

After he has completed this task he reaches a point of spiritual catastrophe and is taken in by an underground colony of deformed exiles. This colony of people have been displaced from the local town due their supposedly monstrous appearances. In typical Spaghetti Western style, El Topo eventually plunders the town from the cruel reign of its sheriff, with a few Jodorowsky tinted twists along the way that include, but are not limited to, self-immolation, transgender slavers and a Christian version of Russian roulette. Yeah, it's mental.

While Jodorwsky confines the film within the recognisable imagery of the Western, the narrative completely deforms its very foundations in a profound, cerebral and utterly mystifying manner. Jodorowsky masterfully blends the narrative imagination of Bunuel, the visual panache of Leone and the visceral imagery of Gordon Lewis to produce a film that makes an indelible mark in one's memory.

It's a pretty safe bet to say that this film is not for everyone, at times it's pretentious and at others decidedly exploitative. It's not an easy watch, and certainly isn't designed for comprehension or casual consumption; it makes David Lynch's most challenging works look like a walk in the park. You'll be left with a headache after watching, but it's a headache you will happily return to time and time again.

If Tarantino's latest film is causing a cultural stir for its representation of slavery, extreme violence and its revisionist approach to genre, one has to look back at El Topo to see that it's not doing anything that hasn't been done before. In fact, it's doing a damn sight less than what's been done before. Jodorowsky's film tackles slavery, religion, prejudice and just about everything in between. It's one of the most significant experiences I have ever had with film and if you enjoyed Django Unchained, there's no reason for you to not fall in love with El Topo in turn.

Also, as a sort of side note, it seems appropriate to compare Jodorowsky being asked about the extreme violence in his films and Tarantino's now famous blow up when held under the same scrutiny (found here). Jodorowsky's answer, found below, is a far more articulate and appropriate response to the line of questioning; confirming his status as one of cinema's truly great proponents of culturally subversive pleasures.

Maybe it's just me, but this seems a far more cogent and engaging response than simply telling somebody that their butt is about to be shut down.

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