Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky, Spanish with English Subtitles, 1968
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Thu 5 April 2012 // 19:30
/ Cinema
This tale of sadomasochistic love and unattainable paradise premiered at the 1968 Acapulco Film festival, inciting a riot that forced the director to flee for his life.
Fando and Lis are two young people looking for a marvelous city called Tar. Tar symbolizes whatever the audience wants: It could mean happiness, God, sexual fulfillment, justice,etc. On the way to Tar they meet nightmarish characters who try to stop their search. Fando and Lis realize that Tar is to be found within themselves and that the only way to reach the promised city is by facing their personal ghosts.
The shooting of Alejandro Jodorowsky's film took more than two years. His only script was memories of Arrabal's play. the filming was a constant search for an idiom that would elude "Reason"; that would act as a bridge to the unconcious. The actors were stripped naked tortured and beaten. Artificial blood was never used.