Fando and Lis

Rating:
Summary: Homebrewer
Review: Mention the name Alexandro Jodorowsky wherever two or more film buffs are gathered and a fight is only minutes away. Some argue that he is a latter day Bunuel whose non-linear style of storytelling illustrates the falsities and hypocrasies of the ruling class while others declare that he is a talentless poseur who incorporates his own LSD inspired ramblings into his scripts and "non linear" is just a fancy way of saying his plots make no sense.

Many directors have woven the search for the Meaning of Life into their plots. Ingmar Bergman, David Lynch, Carl Dreyer and Luis Bunuel among them especially. The thing about Jodorowsky is not that his characters are looking for the meaning OF life, rather they are seeking to give meaning TO their lives. This is not wrong per se, but the problem is the characters in EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN and even FANDO AND LIS all find what they are seeking, and that is where the problems begin, not end. While having a goal and dedicating your life to it is laudible in itself, once you have satisfied that goal where do you go? Is Life still meaningful once you have solved Meaning of same?

Not to reveal the ending of any of these movies but: There are disastrous results for everyone in these pictures once they reach their goal . . .which turns out to be not what they expected anyway. Fando and his crippled girlfriend Lis are on a journey to the legendary magical city of Tar where, both believe, Lis will be able to walk and all their problems will be solved. Along the way they meet all sorts of odd characters (the only kind who inhabit the Jodorowsky universe) and Fando tries to leave several times only to return repentant.

Jodorowsky seems to share a dislike of the upper classes of society with Bunuel. The representatives of the upper crust we encounter are narrow minded ineffectual idiots anxious to maintain the status quo because that is the only life they know and they are unwilling to accept change (think about the townsfolk in EL TOPO and compare them to the rich people in VIRIDIANA). Tar may be no more real than El Dorado or Atlantis but as long as they are actively involved in searching for it, Fando and Lis's live have meaning.

The question ultimately put before them and, by proxy, also before us is this: Is the realisation of this goal worth it? And what happens if we arrive at the wrong answer? Of course with Jodorowsky the wrong answer is the only one anyone ever seems to reach, EL TOPO being the prime example of this. FANDO AND LIS reaches a climax which, while not wholly unexpected, is no less heartbreaking because we saw it coming.

This film was withdrawn for several film festivals worldwide and allegedly caused riots when it was shown in Brazil. It was withdrawn from distribution for many years by Jodorowsky himself but is now available on videocassette and DVD. So is this man an unsung genius? You figure it out, I'm going home.

Rating:
Summary: Ahh, the surreal world of Jodorowsky.
Review: Santa Sagre is a great film. I would rank it up there with Holy Mountain or El Topo. To find many of Jodorowsky's other movies, go to www.revok.com. I've purchased many of their dvds and they are superb. El Topo in widescreen anyone? Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: I saw this DVD in Ecstasy i really enjoy it
Review: the first film of Jodorowsky on DVD, with acceptable quality and sound i really enjoy it, LA Constellation Jodorowsky its extraordinary, I'm in extasis when i saw it, you can imagine the world of Jodorowsky actually. a magical interview (87 mins) mixed with some scenes of their films, and anothers interviews like Fernando Arrabal and Peter Gabriel.I'll be waiting anxiously the following films of Jodorowsky on DVD.... ( i get it only in VHS)

Rating:
Summary: if i ever figure this one out, i'll....
Review: the world was a much happier place in 1999 & i can understand why. fando & lis was released on dvd by fantoma & we quivered with shameless delight. hence, there are slaves of jodorowsky still alive today but this any true fans' fantasy come true. hell, the interviews with jodorowsky himself &peter gabriel are literally worth the price you pay alone. yes, fantoma did this one up real nicely just like they did with jose mojica marins coffin joe trilogy. having never seen a jodorowsky film before, this was a complete shock to the system & an absolute eye opener. i have seen this film several times through the years & i'm still disturbed by it more than ever. of all the films i've ever watched, this one had an impact on me like no other. probability suggests we might truly hate this film if we're to know it's full meaning so i can say in all honesty that i hope i never fully understand it. supposedly, this film is based upon an avantguard play written by arrabal which jodorowsky loved. in fact, he mentions in an interview the play never made any money when he performed it & he deeply saddened by the fact they had to stop performing it when they ran out of money. fando & lis wasn't made on a huge budget from i can gather but the images will stay in your head for a very long time indeed. i'm reminded of the surrealism i've seen in films by rollin, lynch, or perhaps bunuel. yes, beautiful & erotic but haunting & somewhat grotesque. needless to say, there is a degree of ironic humor as well. fando & lis is a complicated, strange journey that reveals the darkest sides of human nature which are generally laced with a child-like innocence. in the beginning of the film, we are introduced to our characters & get a glimpse of their traumatic childhoods as well as fando's devotion to a crippled but beautiful young woman. the opening scene shows lis eating a flower & is a perfect metaphor for what we will see in the next 90 odd minutes. we are swallowing the beauty of the world around us amidst the chaos. in fact, we don't understand the true power or meaning of beauty so we clearly dispose of it without a moment's hesitation. this may not have been jodorowsky's intention ofcourse but i believe each person who views fando & lis will interpret his work in a unique way. i will visit this film again sometime & can only hope that fantoma or some dvd company will one day release the other five films of jodorowsky & do them up well just like this one. considered lost for nearly thirty years, i have to say it looks damn great & i'm proud to be an owner of this masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: if i ever figure this one out, i'll....
Review: the world was a much happier place in 1999 & i can understand why. fando & lis was released on dvd by fantoma & we quivered with shameless delight. hence, there are slaves of jodorowsky still alive today but this any true fans' fantasy come true. hell, the interviews with jodorowsky himself &peter gabriel are literally worth the price you pay alone. yes, fantoma did this one up real nicely just like they did with jose mojica marins coffin joe trilogy. having never seen a jodorowsky film before, this was a complete shock to the system & an absolute eye opener. i have seen this film several times through the years & i'm still disturbed by it more than ever. of all the films i've ever watched, this one had an impact on me like no other. probability suggests we might truly hate this film if we're to know it's full meaning so i can say in all honesty that i hope i never fully understand it. supposedly, this film is based upon an avantguard play written by arrabal which jodorowsky loved. in fact, he mentions in an interview the play never made any money when he performed it & he deeply saddened by the fact they had to stop performing it when they ran out of money. fando & lis wasn't made on a huge budget from i can gather but the images will stay in your head for a very long time indeed. i'm reminded of the surrealism i've seen in films by rollin, lynch, or perhaps bunuel. yes, beautiful & erotic but haunting & somewhat grotesque. needless to say, there is a degree of ironic humor as well. fando & lis is a complicated, strange journey that reveals the darkest sides of human nature which are generally laced with a child-like innocence. in the beginning of the film, we are introduced to our characters & get a glimpse of their traumatic childhoods as well as fando's devotion to a crippled but beautiful young woman. the opening scene shows lis eating a flower & is a perfect metaphor for what we will see in the next 90 odd minutes. we are swallowing the beauty of the world around us amidst the chaos. in fact, we don't understand the true power or meaning of beauty so we clearly dispose of it without a moment's hesitation. this may not have been jodorowsky's intention ofcourse but i believe each person who views fando & lis will interpret his work in a unique way. i will visit this film again sometime & can only hope that fantoma or some dvd company will one day release the other five films of jodorowsky & do them up well just like this one. considered lost for nearly thirty years, i have to say it looks damn great & i'm proud to be an owner of this masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: It Is That It Is
Review: This film is everything it's supposed to be regardless of how 'good' it is. Jodorowsky is a man whose art is either understood or misunderstood, and this film has its merit, although i would recommend 'The Holy Mountain' or 'El Topo' over 'Fando & Lis.' 'Santa Sangre' i think would be easiest to digest for most viewers, but a true Jodorowsky fan will love all his films.

Rating:
Summary: Lis and Fangs
Review: This is a very odd film that in its base, is pure surrealism, even if the other reviewer said it "wasn't because it doesn't have a story to tell." Well, just to correct him and his pretentiousness, it was "surrealism" and because you were not "entertained" or moved by any of it, that does not dismiss its pretensions. Bunuel and Lynch films need to be 'commercial" in some respect in order to retrieve the funding that producers were willing to invest, while on this hand, this film was made by a madman and lunatic, purely to denounce conformist cinema. He didn't care if you were "bored" or even cried to tears, it was his attempt to put to film a Francisco Arrabal play from his memory, which was disjointed because of his drug use and other factors.

This is a pure work of art by Jodeowrosky and he succeeds in that. It is not to say that it is a simple film to watch, on the contrary, it is very difficult but I was rewarded at the end by the odd assortment of unusual characters and by the meaning of each situation, the ending was quite poignant and I even enjoyed the music and the peculiar dubbing of voices and the art from alchemistical books. For you literary folks, look for Juan José Arreola, the great Mexican writer who had a part in the film, although I wasn't able to determine what scene he was in. There is also a documentary on Jodeowrosky on the DVD, although crudely produced on cheap video, it none-the-less captures some sentiment of his. He explains his perspective on art, theology and he even plays with tarot cards and speaks about his "spectacular failure", the adaptation of Dune. Towards the end though, it becomes very inane because he is psycho-analyzing the camera man in a stupid scene while covering everyone in hog grease and I couldn't stand anymore of his "new age" proselytizing.


Rating:
Summary: A Bit Like Blue Velvet Meets Monty Python
Review: This is like 90 minutes of performance art. I suppose with a one page script this was never going to win any awards for best screenplay. It's a bit like a long hallucinogenic bad trip. Fando keeps running into insane encounters and when he isn't he is acting cruelly towards Lis, with shades of Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet. There are plenty of memorable scenes as the couple journey towards Tar, whatever/wherever that is. It reminded me a bit of that bizarre road movie Supervixens, so if you're a Russ Meyer fan you may like this. Finally, you can get the Holy Mountain+El Topo box set from xploitedcinema.com (avoid the Japanese versions - nudity is obscured).

Rating:
Summary: A superb DVD transfer of Jodorowsky's first feature film
Review: This is the first feature film from Chilean avant-garde filmmaker Alexandro Jodorowsky, which caused riots on its premiere in Acapulco in 1968. It's a strange tale of a man and woman, who wander around a barren landscape searching for the mystical city of Tar. And also to seek enlightenment from an assortment of strange characters. It's not for everyone, but if you like your movies out there in the extremes of surrealism and symbolism, this one is for you. The DVD also includes a interesting documentary where Jodorowsky is interviewed, and we learn of his philosophy and opinions, which are always fascinating. A must own DVD for fans of avant-garde cinema.

Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: WONDERFUL, GREAT, BRAVO....ALL WE NEED NOW IS JODOROWSKY'S OTHER GREAT FILMS ON DVD. FREEDOM FOR HIS MOVIES!!!