{{Infobox film | name = Fando y Lis | image = Fando-y-lis-movie-poster-md.jpg | alt = | caption = | native_name = <!-- {{Infobox name module|language|title}} or {{Infobox name module|title}} --> | director = [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]] | producer = {{plainlist|* [[Juan López Moctezuma]] * Roberto Viskin<ref name="jodBox7" />}} | writer = Alejandro Jodorowsky | screenplay = | story = | based_on = {{Based on|A play by Fernando Arrabal}}<ref name="jodBox7" /> | starring = {{plainlist|* Diana Mariscal * [[Sergio Kleiner]]}} | narrator = | music = {{plainlist|* Hector Morley * Pepe Ávila<ref name="jodBox7" />}} | cinematography = {{plainlist|* [[Rafael Corkidi]] * Antonio Reynoso<ref name="jodBox7">{{Cite AV media notes | title =Alejandro Jodorowsky | year = 2020 | chapter = Credits | last = Curti | first = Roberto | page = 7 | type = Booklet | publisher = Arrow Video | id =FCD1932 }}</ref>}} | editing = Fernando Suarez<ref name="jodBox7" /> | studio = Producciones Pánicas<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150035845|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|title=Information|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> | distributor = <!-- or: | distributors = --> | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1968|||Acapulco Film Festival|1972|7||Mexico}} | runtime = 97 minutes | country = Mexico<ref name="bfi" /> | language = Spanish | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Fando y Lis''''' ('Fando and Lis') is a 1968 Mexican [[Surrealist cinema|surrealist]] film directed by [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]] in his feature length directorial debut. It is an adaptation of a 1962 play of the same name by [[Fernando Arrabal]], who 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. ''Fando y Lis'' stars [[Sergio Kleiner]] 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 (Klainer) and his [[paraplegic]] girlfriend Lis (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]].
==Cast== * [[Sergio Klainer]] as Fando * [[Diana Mariscal]] as Lis * [[Juan José Arreola]] as Well-Dressed Man with Book * [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]] as Puppeteer
==Release== ''Fando y Lis'' premiered at the 1968 [[Acapulco Film Festival]].<ref name="jodBox67">{{Cite AV media notes | title =Original Reviews | year = 2020 | chapter = Credits | last1 = Blackford | first1 = James | last2 = Curti | first2 = Roberto | page = 67 | type = Booklet | publisher = Arrow Video | id =FCD1932 }}</ref> A full-scale riot subsequently broke out, leading to the film being banned in Mexico.<ref name="Rosenbaum93">{{cite book |last1=Rosenbaum |first1=Jonathan |last2=Hoberman |first2=J. |title=Midnight Movies |date=1991 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=9780306804335 |pages=92–93}}</ref> ''Fando y Lis'' was shown in New York's 5th Avenue Cinema 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.<ref name="jodBox67" />
''Fando y Lis'' received a 4K digital restoration by [[ABKCO Records| ABKCO]] in 2020.<ref name="4K">{{cite news |last1=Hermanns |first1=Grant |title=ABKCO Unveils Alejandro Jodorowsky: 4K Restoration Collection! |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/1138335-abkco-unveils-alejandro-jodorowsky-4k-restoration-collection |access-date=10 March 2023 |publisher=Comingsoon.net |date=12 June 2020}}</ref> ABKCO partnered with [[Alamo Drafthouse Cinema| Alamo Drafthouse]] to release it on their streaming platform that year and released the film on Blu-ray and DVD in 2021.<ref name="4K"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=4K Restorations of Jodorowsky Films El Topo, The Holy Mountain and Fando Y Lis Out March 19 on Blu-Ray |url=https://www.abkco.com/news-feed/4k-restorations-of-jodorowsky-films-el-topo-the-holy-mountain-and-fando-y-lis-out-march-19-on-blu-ray/ |access-date=2023-01-26 |website=ABKCO Music & Records, Inc. |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Fando y Lis'' was released in New York City to generally negative reviews, with many critics comparing it unfavorably to ''[[Fellini Satyricon]]'', which had recently opened.<ref name="Rosenbaum93" /><ref name="jodBox67" /> It was also criticized for its shock value, while acknowledging its role in surrealist media.<ref name="NYTReview">{{cite news |title='Fando and Lis,' a Film Calculated to Shock |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/03/archives/fando-and-lis-a-film-calculated-to-shock.html |access-date=10 March 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=3 February 1970}}</ref>
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|80|6.9|10|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fando and Lis {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fando_and_lis |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref>
==In other media== An audio clip of dialogue from the film is featured in [[Agalloch]]'s album ''[[The Mantle]]'', at the end of the track "The Hawthorne Passage."<ref name="entierro1">{{cite web |title=Fando y Lis - Que Bonito es un Entierro |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Qh4m8EBt8 |website=Youtube.com |access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Agalloch - The Mantle (Full Album) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INgo0xmYBeg&t=3336s |website=Youtube.com |access-date=4 July 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book | last = Rosenbaum | first = Jonathan | title = Midnight movies | publisher = [[Da Capo Press]] | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-306-80433-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yiRH-NdN_cAC | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110809012227/http://books.google.com/books?id=yiRH-NdN_cAC | url-status = dead | archive-date = August 9, 2011}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0061643}}
{{Alejandro Jodorowsky}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fando Y Lis}} [[Category:1968 films]] [[Category:1968 black-and-white films]] [[Category:1960s avant-garde and experimental films]] [[Category:Art works that caused riots]] [[Category:Films about people with paraplegia or tetraplegia]] [[Category:Films directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky]] [[Category:Mexican black-and-white films]] [[Category:Mexican films based on plays]] [[Category:1968 Spanish-language films]] [[Category:Surrealist films]] [[Category:1968 directorial debut films]] [[Category:1968 Mexican films]] {{1960s-Mexico-film-stub}}