The Mole

This cult classic, which became a legend of New York’s Elgin Theater midnight screenings, is an allegorical “eastern” exploring sin, corruption, and enlightenment – drenched in brutality, surrealism, and mysticism. The titular character, a mysterious gunslinger named El Topo (played by Jodorowsky himself), roams the desert with his young son, seeking revenge on bandits who massacred an entire village. After rescuing a woman from their captivity, he sets off with her to defeat four master gunmen. Yet after surviving a series of trials, everything he fought for turns out to be an illusion. Years later, after emerging from a coma, he is reborn as a holy fool among a clan of outcasts. Adored by John Lennon, the film divided critics – some hailed it as a masterpiece, others dismissed it as a pretentious collage of symbolism and violence. Despite the controversy, The Mole cemented its place in film history as one of Jodorowsky’s most transgressive and hypnotic works.

Alejandro Jodorowsky (b. 1929) is a true visionary artist – a director, actor, composer, comic book writer, performer, occultist, and psychotherapist whose work balances on the edge of dream, ritual, and madness. As a co-founder of the experimental Panic Theatre, he drew inspiration from mysticism, surrealism, and theatrical ecstasy. His films are psychedelic journeys filled with symbols and metaphysics, with Jodorowsky treating art as a tool for healing the soul. By exploring the human subconscious and defying social norms, he became an icon of counterculture and one of the most uncompromising artists of the 20th century.

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