Drowning by Numbers vs. El Topo

KingofPain

on 12/8/2010

Drowning by Numbers is about three Cissie Colpitts who drown their three husbands, and the coroner who covers up the murders. And there's a girl who skips rope and counts the stars. And a boy who counts dead things and self-circumsises. El Topo is about a gunslinger who must defeat three mystical gunslingers by outsmarting them in order to impress a girl. And then there's a bunch of freaks and outcasts living underground that he joins up with... I don't think either of these movies can adequately be explained, really. It's all in the watching, because both are filled with provocative and arty imagery that may or may not make a whole lot of sense. El Topo is definitely the weirder and more grotesque flick, I would say. I like Drowning by Numbers's visual style, though. And it's not like sitting through a bad trip. (Three women vs. one coroner with a boy and three mystical gunslingers vs. a gunslinger with a boy... the numbers! Can somebody interpret this matchup?)