Fando y Lis

Fando & Lis
Directed by	Alejandro Jodorowsky
Written by	Fernando Arrabal
Starring	Diana Mariscal Sergio Kleiner
Music by	Pepe Ávila
Cinematography	Rafael Corkidi
Production company	Producciones Pánicas
Distributed by	Abkco Records Cannon Films
Release date	1968
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Mexico
Language	Spanish

Fando y Lis is a film adaptation of a Fernando Arrabal play by the same name, and it is Alejandro Jodorowsky's first feature-length film. Arrabal was working with Jodorowsky on performance art at the time. The film was shot in high-contrast black-and-white on the weekends with a small budget and was first shown at the Acapulco Film Festival in 1968.

Plot

The film follows Fando (Sergio Klainer) and his paraplegic girlfriend Lis (Diana Mariscal) through a barren, postapocalyptic wasteland in search of the mythical city of Tar, a place where one will know the true nature of eternity, and reach enlightenment. On their journey they see many odd and profoundly disturbing characters and events.

The narrative of the film leaves a lot to the audience's interpretation, as the avant-garde and surreal nature in which the events of the film are presented mimic the workings of the subconscious.

Reception

When the film premièred at the 1968 Acapulco film festival, a full-scale riot broke out. The film was later banned in Mexico. Roman Polanski (who was there with his wife Sharon Tate to promote his film Rosemary's Baby) defended the film, stating that he defends any auteur's right of expressing himself with complete liberty and that censorship in art and culture was just not acceptable (as had happened to him in his motherland).

The film (cut by thirteen minutes) was released in New York to generally negative reviews, with many critics comparing it unfavorably to Fellini Satyricon, which had recently opened.

References

Bibliography

• Rosenbaum, Jonathan (1991). Midnight movies. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80433-6.

External links

• Fando y Lis on IMDb
• Fando y Lis at AllMovie