''Fando y Lis'' is a 1968 Mexican film directed by

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker. Best known for his 1970s films '' El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his wo ...

in his feature length directorial debut. It is an adaptation of a 1962 play of the same name by

Fernando Arrabal Fernando Arrabal Terán (born August 11, 1932) is a Spanish playwright, screenwriter, film director, novelist, and poet. He was born in Melilla and settled in France in 1955. Regarding his nationality, Arrabal describes himself as "desterrado", ...

, who was working with Jodorowsky on

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

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. ''Fando y Lis'' stars

Sergio Kleiner Sergio Kleiner (born March 23, 1939 in Buenos Aires, Argentina), also credited as Sergio Klainer, is an Argentine-born Mexican film and television actor. He started his acting career at the age of 21 at a play in Buenos Aires. He then toured with ...

and Diana Mariscal as the titular pair who embark on a surreal quest in search of Tar, a mythical heaven-like place.

Plot

The film follows Fando ( Sergio Klainer) and his

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neur ...

girlfriend Lis (

Diana Mariscal Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

) 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 The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

and surreal nature in which the events of the film are presented mimic the workings of the

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. Scholarly use of the term The word ''subconscious'' represents an anglicized version of the French ''subconscient'' as coined in 1889 by the psycho ...

Cast

* Sergio Klainer as Fando *

as Lis *

Juan José Arreola Juan José Arreola Zúñiga (September 21, 1918 – December 3, 2001) was a Mexican writer, academic, and actor. He is considered Mexico's premier experimental short story writer of the 20th century. Arreola is recognized as one of the first Lat ...

as Well-Dressed Man with Book *

as Puppeteer

Release

''Fando y Lis'' premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival. A full-scale riot subsequently broke out, leading to the film being banned in Mexico.Rosenbaum, 1992. pp.92–93 ''Fando y Lis'' was shown in New York 's

5th Avenue Cinema The 5th Avenue Cinema is a two-screen, 35-millimeter projection theater at 510 Southwest Hall Street in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, owned by Portland State University (PSU) and operated by the student-managed PSU Film Committee. Eac ...

where it was dubbed, re-edited and cut by 13 minutes. It was shown in London in February 1971, re-titled as ''Tar Babies'', running 98 minutes. It was not released in Mexico until July 1972. ''Fando y Lis'' has received a 4K digital restoration and is set to be re-released in UK cinemas by Abkco Films for a limited time commencing on February 7, 2020.

Reception

''Fando y Lis'' was released in New York City to generally negative reviews, with many critics comparing it unfavorably to ''

Fellini Satyricon ''Fellini Satyricon'', or simply ''Satyricon'', is a 1969 Italian fantasy drama film written and directed by Federico Fellini and loosely based on Petronius's work '' Satyricon'', written during the reign of Emperor Nero and set in Imperial R ...

'', which had recently opened.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* * 1968 films 1960s avant-garde and experimental films Art works that caused riots Films about paraplegics or quadriplegics Films directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky Mexican black-and-white films Mexican films based on plays 1960s Spanish-language films Surrealist films 1968 directorial debut films Film controversies 1960s Mexican films {{1960s-Mexico-film-stub