10 · 25 · 13

Screening of Fando and Lis and The Voice Thief

Fando and Lis (1968) was presented at the Cinépolis Centro as part of the retrospective dedicated to Alejandro Jodorowsky, guest of honor of the 11th FICM.

Prior to the screening, The Voice Thief, a short film by Adán Jodorowsky, was exhibited. “In my first film, my brother Cristóbal has the main part,” Adán said. “I don’t know what you’re going to think, but I don’t worry about what people think. It is a cry from the soul, and I did it, and I needed to do it, and so it was. I hope you like it a lot.”

Daniela Michel, general director of FICM, said it was an honor to have both Adán and Brontis Jodorowsky at the retrospective, as well as the presentation of Adán’s short film. “We are deeply grateful, we feel like you are Mexican,” she added, to what Brontis responded, “Legally we are.”

At the conclusion of both films, Alejandro Jodorowsky took the floor and mesmerized the public with an improvised, warm and intimate talk.

“I made this film more than 50 years ago and I understand why they wanted to lynch me,” he said. “When I arrived in Mexico, there were cowboy movies, charros, Tin Tan and El Santo. They were very good, but imagine the minds of the people who saw this. They wanted to kill me. What I wanted to do is something absolutely not folkloric. It seems to me that Fando and Lis has a free cinematographic approach. There is no commercial attempt to entertain, but to release everything that one carries within. It is the alchemical search for love.

“When you make your first film, you don’t know what a film really is, you have no conception of the totality,” he continued. “The script is a concession to the producers who want to control you. I hate scripts! They only serve to organize the takes and calculate the number of shooting days. At the moment of filming, miracles appear and I wanted to express myself without compromising.”

Jodorowsky spoke about how he obtained the funding for Fando and Lis. “I did a lot of theater and my director’s assistant had Down’s syndrome. I treated him very well and he was happy, but he died tragically. His father was so grateful to me that he produced Fando and Lis. I have a pretty well-developed ego, I’m human. I influenced a lot of people. I opened the environment and the possibility for many people to express themselves. I broke the limits and made Hollywood afraid of me. I wanted to make a film in 12 hours, which is now done. The director shoots and he should shoot what he has to film without going around in circles. To see what has to be seen.”

Asked about the feeling of having found love, he replied, “Love brings peace. I’m very interested in alchemy and you can’t do alchemic work alone. Nature tends to reproduce itself. The sacred couple, if it is involved sexually, spiritually, emotionally and physically, can help one another to achieve great individual work. We have to rid ourselves of the family and find the person who is right for you. The world expands around that coming together. We have to get away from the “ego” so that the sublime feelings appear: love of humanity, those who will come after, those who exist. When you learn to give, generosity appears. What you give, you give to yourself, and what you don’t [give], you take from yourself.”

Alejandro Jodorowsky answered two questions that he had addressed in his master conference last Wednesday. “The violations and amputees are in my films because they exist in the world. The world is full of rapes and mutilated people. Everyone acts as if they don’t exist. That’s it. About the influences, I have to say that the human brain always has to compare something and finds it difficult to understand what’s new. I really like cinema and I see a film every day.  But what I do is not like what anyone else does. I don’t imitate anyone. I do what I want to do. It’s not that I’m vain. In Fando and Lis I’m looking for myself. To do that, you have to find your style, your scenery and your sites. And something very important: Don’t let photographers dominate you. Cinema is not a photo. Everything is at the service of the creator, who is the director.”

Finally, Jodorowsky said, “Cinema is an art. It shouldn’t be a business or an industry. The publicity for a film costs the same as to make the film. In Fando and Lis we didn’t advertise. I did away with advertising. If it’s art, no advertising! And the actors shouldn’t do it because they say stupid things, except my son Brontis. I was ahead of my time by many years. When you’re an honest artist, you’re ahead of your time and people will understand it 30 years later. But, above all, they must not forget this: To succeed you must learn how to fail.”