El Topo18

Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky | Mexico | 1970 | 2h 5m | Spanish w/ English subtitles | Starring Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, José Legarreta, Alfonso Arau, Gerardo Zepeda

In the barren expanse of the desert, a mysterious gunslinger, donned in black, embarks on a transformative journey in search of enlightenment. Joined by his young son, he navigates a landscape fraught with a succession of bizarre and symbolic trials, each forcing him to confront the fundamental nature of his own existence. Visionary Chilean filmmaker, Alejandro Jodorowsky concocts a surreal acid Western using evocative imagery, profound symbolism, and philosophical storytelling.

Reviews

‘It’s tempting to say they don’t make films like this any more, but I’m not sure anyone has ever made them like Jodorowsky.’
★★★★
Ed Potton, The Times

‘It’s a bizarre head-trip festival of occult psychedelia, heatstroke visuals, Age-of-Aquarius nude dancing and violence through poster-paint fake blood splattered about the place.’
★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed El Topo between July 28, 2023 and July 31, 2023.

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What else is on?

Today (Thursday 29th October)

15:15

Extra Geography 15
Descriptive Subtitles
1h 34m
In their final year at an early-2000s boarding school, two best friends set themselves a mission: to fall in love with their geography teacher. Molly Manners' freewheeling comedy drama is a funny, warm-hearted portrait of female friendship.

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17:30

Digger 15
2h 9m
The most powerful man in the world is in a frantic race to prove he's humanity's saviour before the disaster he unleashed destroys everything. Tom Cruise heads up an all-star cast in Oscar-winner Alejandro González Iñárritu's sharp comic satire.

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20:30

Florence Park Talks: Robyn Cowen
BBC football commentator Robyn Cowen gives a talk and audience Q&A at the UPP. Tickets cost £10 each and proceeds will be donated to the #SaveTheUPP campaign and Oxford United in the Community, a local mental health charity.

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Tomorrow (Friday 30th October)

15:45

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast Of Mo U
1h 20m
Just before Halloween, the clumsy Farmer ruins the pumpkin patch. Shaun's science experiments to fix it go wrong when a wild beast appears in the woods. Shaun the Sheep returns in a monstrously fun family adventure as Aardman turns 50.

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18:00

The Social Reckoning 15
1h 52m
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen teams up with a Wall Street Journal reporter to expose the social network's darkest secrets. Aaron Sorkin follows up The Social Network with this true-story legal thriller, starring Jeremy Allen White, Mikey Madison and Jeremy Strong.

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Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!