The following annecdote is true:
One teenage afternoon my friend Victor told me we must go see El Topo, the greatest film of all times. He had seen it the day before and was stunned. I was fond of Alexandro's "Fabulas Panicas" in the sunday newspaper (a cow wanting to become a cube, and the sort), so I went on with enthusiasm.
The film is stuffed with stuff, and lets anyone be his own interpreting "genius" of the goulash he's presented with. It tries to impress wellthinkers, and succeeds. It's full of sound and fury (and dozen of ounces of red paint), but signifies nothing. A few striking images rest in the mind, a few phrases, already read in the "Fabulas". And the sensation of being utterly cheated.
As we left the theatre, Victor confessed:
"It sucks, man, but I didn't realize it yesterday. I was on acid".
That's one specific condition in which you can enjoy (and maybe think you grasp) El Topo. Other one, if you remained "forever" (that is, stoned for life). The third and last, if you ego as an intellectual is too big to admit you were fooled like a baby by an artist of fakery.
One teenage afternoon my friend Victor told me we must go see El Topo, the greatest film of all times. He had seen it the day before and was stunned. I was fond of Alexandro's "Fabulas Panicas" in the sunday newspaper (a cow wanting to become a cube, and the sort), so I went on with enthusiasm.
The film is stuffed with stuff, and lets anyone be his own interpreting "genius" of the goulash he's presented with. It tries to impress wellthinkers, and succeeds. It's full of sound and fury (and dozen of ounces of red paint), but signifies nothing. A few striking images rest in the mind, a few phrases, already read in the "Fabulas". And the sensation of being utterly cheated.
As we left the theatre, Victor confessed:
"It sucks, man, but I didn't realize it yesterday. I was on acid".
That's one specific condition in which you can enjoy (and maybe think you grasp) El Topo. Other one, if you remained "forever" (that is, stoned for life). The third and last, if you ego as an intellectual is too big to admit you were fooled like a baby by an artist of fakery.