Fando y Lis (1968)

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writers:

Fernando Arrabal (play)
Alejandro Jodorowsky (adaptation)

Release Date:

8 June 1972 (Mexico)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy

Tagline:

See this film before it sees you.

Plot:

Fando and his partially paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar. Based on Jodorowsky's memories of a play by surrealist Fernando Arrabal.

Plot Keywords:

Eating Flowers | Whipping | Piano | Male Nudity | Cards

Cast

Sergio Kleiner	...	Fando (as Sergio Klainer)
Diana Mariscal	...	Lis
María Teresa Rivas	...	Fando's Mother
Tamara Garina	...	Pope
Juan José Arreola	...	Well-Dressed Man with Book (as Juan Jose Arreola)
Rene Rebetez
Amparo Villegas
Miguel Álvarez Acosta		(as Lic. Miguel Alvarez Acosta)
Raul Romero
Julio Castillo
Adrián Ramos
Henry West
Luis Urias
Valerie Jodorowsky	...	Junkyard Temptress / Woman with Leg Brace (as Valerie-Jean)
Graciela R. de Mariscal	...	Entertained Woman

Also Known As:

Fando and Lis (USA)
Fando and Lis: Tar Babies

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | Italy:VM14 (1990) | South Korea:18 (2008)

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Producciones Panicas

Trivia:

When the film premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival, the first screening erupted into a riot. Director Alejandro Jodorowsky had to leave the theatre by sneaking outside to a waiting limousine. When the crowd outside the theatre recognized him, the car was pelted with rocks. The following week, the film opened to sell-out crowds in Mexico City, but fights broke out in the audiences and the film was banned by the Mexican government. Jodorowsky himself was nearly deported and the scandal provided much fodder for the Mexican newspapers.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time... a long, long time ago... there was a mystical city, Tar. And at that time all the cities were intact and flourishing, because the final war had not yet begun. When the great catastrophe occurred, all the cities crumbled... except Tar...

Movie Connections:

Featured in La constellation Jodorowsky (1994)

An important film for surrealist film buffs everywhere.

"Fando & Lis" is Alejandro Jodorowsky's first full length feature film. Like the 1930 film "L Age D Or", the 1967 premier at the Acapulco film festival in Mexico led to riots. The images shocked many viewers and Jodorowsky had to flee for his life. The film's story concerns Fando and his crippled girlfriend Lis. Fando is very cruel, but sometimes sympathetic. He pushes Lis around in a cart through many strange and surreal scenarios. We also witness flashbacks of Lis as a child loosing her innocents to the corruption of adults. Fando has flashbacks of his father and the soldiers which took his dad away from him. For the two main characters, it's a bizarre world gone mad. Fando & Lis are on a journey to the miraculous city of Tar. Lis is convinced she'll be healed of her physical disorder and able to walk again. This film is based on a short play by Fernado Arrabal. and at time feels like a follow up to the later filmed "Viva la Muerte". Although shot in B&W viewers are treated to many bizarre images including; a burning piano, body painting, drag queens, mud people and other assorted strangeness. "Fando & Lis" holds its place in the hall of fame of weird films. You must see it to believe it.