Complete credited cast: | |||
Anouk Ferjac | ... | La Tante / The aunt | |
Núria Espert | ... | La Mère / The mother | |
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Mahdi Chaouch | ... | Fando / Son |
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Ivan Henriques | ... | Tosan / Le Père-The father |
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Jazia Klibi | ... | Thérèse / Fando's friend |
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Suzanne Comte | ... | La Grand-mère / Grandmother |
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Jean-Louis Chassigneux | ... | Le Grand-père / Grandfather |
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Mohamed Bellasoued | ... | Colonel |
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Victor Garcia | ... | Fando / 20 ans-yo |
At the end of the Spanish civil war, Fando, a boy of about ten, tries to make sense of war and his father's arrest. His mother is religious, sympathetic to the Fascists; his father is accused of being a Red. Fando discovers that his mother may have aided in his father's arrest. Sometimes we witness Fando imagining explanations for what's going on; sometimes we see him at play, alone or with his friend Thérèse. Oedipal fantasies and a lad's natural curiosity about sex and death mix with his search for his mother's nature and his father's fate. Will Fando survive the search? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
The film is semi-autobiographical of Fernando Arrabal, a Spanish-born absurdist playwright, novelist, and filmmaker who is also the co-creator (with Roland Topor and Alexandro Jodorowsky) of the famous Panic Movement.
The story paints a surreal portrait of the Spanish Civil war criticizing the brutality of Catholicism, with a strong oedipal undertone, enormously violent and erotic scenes accompanied by macabre visuals. This film totally flipped me over by the end of it. It was exciting to follow the whole time, but it was the end of it that impressed me. I can say it's one of the most powerful cinematic milestone, Not something I'd recommend for entertainment.