A mysterious alchemist who discovers the thief at the tower and transforms his excrement into gold, telling him that he can change himself. He takes the thief as an apprentice, gathers seven planetary representatives, leads the group through rituals toward the holy mountain, and finally breaks the fourth wall to send them and the audience back to real life.
El Topo is the film’s central gunfighter and spiritual protagonist. He avenges a massacred settlement, abandons his young son with monks, and travels with Marah while challenging four great gun masters. After guilt transforms him, he helps imprisoned outcasts escape, massacres their killers, and immolates himself.
Ludwig van Beethoven is depicted during the last years of his life in Vienna, where progressive deafness brings despair but does not end his compositional creativity. The reconstruction presents his forceful, irascible personality and relationships with women, friends, and his nephew, while Marta's regression places her in the circle around him.
Alejandro Jodorowsky has 93 screen credits in a career dating back to 1957. Signature works include Santa Sangre, The Holy Mountain, El Topo. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.
