No More Heroes vs El Topo

Suda 51 has mentioned on several occasions that his forthcoming No More Heroes was influenced by Alejandro Jordorowski's cult western El Topo. For the uninitiated, El Topo is a violent, experimental film full of graphic imagery, spiritual undertones and political satire. It's widely considered to be the first midnight movie and claims John Lennon as an early supporter.

Jordorowski stars as the titular El Topo (Spanish for "The Mole"), a man who sets out on a quest to slay four "masters." As I mentioned before, the story of one killer looking to snuff his rivals isn't anything new. It seems Suda 51 is interested in El Topo's motivation to kill his betters. Both Travis Touchdown (the protagonist of No More Heroes) and El Topo are urged to kill by a woman. El Topo's seductress, Mara, eventually proves to be his downfall. The vain woman is likely a symbol of man's selfishness -- El Topo abandons his son to be with her and takes on the task of conquering the masters at her bequest. Eventually El Topo is betrayed, hits rock bottom and goes through a Siddhartha like transformation, eventually paying his karmic debt and becoming enlightened.

No telling if Suda 51 will follow the plot that closely, but the similarities between Mara and No More Heroes character Sylvia Christel (herself a reference to the French starlet of Emmanuelle fame) are worth noting. Sylvia, a member of the assassin's league the UAA, sets up Travis' kills -- calling the shots, so to speak, while Travis does the dirty work. Sylvia also seems to enjoy looking at herself in the mirror -- a fixation shared by Mara.

By a strange bit of synchronicity there's a good chance you'll be able to walk into Target on January 22 and buy both the game and the obscure foreign film it alludes to. El Topo is on Target store shelves as part of an IFC promotion.

El Topo Official Site
No More Heroes Official Site - Japan
No More Heroes Official Site - US