Apparently when this film was released at the 1968 Acapulco Film Festival it incited a riot and while making his escape Jodorowsky's limousine was pelted by rocks. When the film was released in Mexico City it incited a riot there as well and almost led to Jodorowsky's deportation. I strongly agree that they should have deported him because I believe that this is possibly the worst film that I have ever seen. I mean it definitely ranks up there with such sludge as Valerie Breiman's Going Overboard and Robert Longo's Johnny Mnemonic. However while these two films are nothing more than a low budget comedy and a cheesy science fiction film, Fando y Lis is full of enough art house pretensions that it could choke a horse. Now, please do not get me wrong, I mainly watch foreign films and prefer well done American independent films more than the flashy, vacuous films released by Hollywood, but, in my humble opinion, Fando y Lis has nothing to offer a film audience.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic land, the lovers Fando and his semi-paraplegic lover Lis, she can stand but she cannot walk, are on a quest to find the city of Tar, the only city that has not fallen. During their travels they come across quite a number of oddballs, including a group dressed out in tuxedos and evening dresses enjoying a jazz trio amongst the burnt out husks of ancient cars, three old women playing cards with peaches used for money and to the winner the amours of a chunky fellow sitting in his tighty whities, amongst others. As Fando makes his way through the devastated landscape his affection for Lis changes dramatically from syrupy sweet to almost sadistic and he abandons her quite a few times throughout the film. This pretty much sums up the "plot" of this film. While David Lynch's Eraserhead and Tsukamoto Shinya's Tetsuo the Ironman also lacked a cohesive plot overall themes could be read into them. This film on the other hand is an utter disaster.
Maybe I am being unfair and maybe I should give this film another chance before I rank it with the two bombs listed above, but there are so many good films available and I do not want to lose a hour and a half of my life watching this film that is at the bottom of filmic value, but at the height of pretentiousness.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic land, the lovers Fando and his semi-paraplegic lover Lis, she can stand but she cannot walk, are on a quest to find the city of Tar, the only city that has not fallen. During their travels they come across quite a number of oddballs, including a group dressed out in tuxedos and evening dresses enjoying a jazz trio amongst the burnt out husks of ancient cars, three old women playing cards with peaches used for money and to the winner the amours of a chunky fellow sitting in his tighty whities, amongst others. As Fando makes his way through the devastated landscape his affection for Lis changes dramatically from syrupy sweet to almost sadistic and he abandons her quite a few times throughout the film. This pretty much sums up the "plot" of this film. While David Lynch's Eraserhead and Tsukamoto Shinya's Tetsuo the Ironman also lacked a cohesive plot overall themes could be read into them. This film on the other hand is an utter disaster.
Maybe I am being unfair and maybe I should give this film another chance before I rank it with the two bombs listed above, but there are so many good films available and I do not want to lose a hour and a half of my life watching this film that is at the bottom of filmic value, but at the height of pretentiousness.