Fando y Lis (1968)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writers:

Fernando Arrabal (play)
Alejandro Jodorowsky (adaptation)
(more)

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:

Body Painting | Piano | Female Nudity | Blood | Cruelty

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
Tina French
Fuensanta	...	Showgirl
Julia Marichal	...	Woman with Whip
Freddy Marichal
Alejandro Romero
Hector Mariscal
Rosita Oliver
Elizabeth Moore	...	Young Lis
Vicente Moore	...	Young Fando
Greta Cohen
Basha
Miguel Kafka
Pablo Leder
Alina Sánchez		(as Alina Sanchez)
Roberto Cirou
Antonio Cepeda
Ricardo Montejano
Gabriel Weiss
René Alís		(as Rene Alis)
Sergio Rendon
Carlos Acosta
Carlos Ancira	...	Narrator
Alfonso Toledano	...	Doctor (as Dr. Alfonso Toledano)
Roberto Colmenares
Jacqueline Ducolomb
Carlos Savage
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rafael Corkidi	...	Fando's Father / Well-Dressed Man with Beard (uncredited)
Alejandro Jodorowsky	...	Puppeteer (uncredited)
Samuel Rosemberg	...	Well-Dressed Man with Cane (uncredited)

Directed by
Alejandro Jodorowsky		(as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Fernando Arrabal		play
Alejandro Jodorowsky		adaptation (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)
Alejandro Jodorowsky		screenplay (as Alexandro Jodorowsky)

Produced by
Juan López Moctezuma	....	producer (as Juan Lopez Moctezuma)
Moshe Rosemberg	....	executive producer (as Mauricio Rosemberg)
Samuel Rosemberg	....	executive producer
Roberto Viskin	....	producer

Original Music by
Pepe Ávila		(as Pepe Avila)
Mario Lozua
Hector Morely

Cinematography by
Rafael Corkidi		(as Corkidi)
Antonio Reynoso		(as Reynoso)

Film Editing by
Fernando Suarez

Music Department
Mario Lozua	....	musician: percussion

Other crew
Manuel Rosano	....	dubbing director

Thanks
Samuel Rosemberg	....	in memory of

Production Companies

• Producciones Panicas

Distributors

• Cannon Film Distributors (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled) (edited)
• International Film Distributors (1970) (Canada) (theatrical) (as "Fando and Lis") (subtitled)
• Fantoma (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Allen & Betty Klein and Company (ABKCO) (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• DomoVideo
• Palisades Tartan (2009) (UK) (all media)
• Raro Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Siren Visual Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (2007) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Section 49 of Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Industria Cinematográfica (STIC)  technical support

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)

Riots broke out at the screening? Not surprising....

Fando and Lis is a very disturbing surrealist film, and at its initial screening supposedly riots broke out...considering when it was released, it's not hard to imagine why. I'm sure there were just a few images and ideas in this that nobody was ready for in the 60's, at least not in Mexico. Fando and Lis are a young couple in a post-disaster world who set out to find the city of Tar, where everything is supposedly wonderful. Fando is rather a cruel but sometimes sympathetic boyfriend, Lis is crippled as the result of a childhood trauma and is generally who Fando takes his frustrations out on. Along the way they meet up with various VERY odd people, including a priest that drinks blood, mud people, crazed women with bowling balls, drag queens, to name but a few. Is there a story to this? Well, yes there is, sort of, but don't worry too much about that, just settle back (if you can) with your mouth hanging open and watch. At times this is a bit whimsical, at others it may well be a horror movie, and yet it all manages to fascinate, if you're of the right frame of mind to be watching this. If you like Bunuel or Fellini, this will be right up your alley, but if you have no sense of adventure you may have a riot right in your own living room....try not to stone the TV though. 9 out of 10.