Fando And Lis (1968) ***

Fando And Lis (1968), Alejandro Jodorowsky's feature debut, introduced the world to many of the controversial avant-garde filmmaker's trademarks but doesn't quite have the finesse present in his other films. Both times that I've watched F&L I've felt a bit disengaged and even bored at times, but there is no denying that there is striking imagery and imagination on display. 

It caused a scandal in Mexico when it was released but most of it seems fairly quaint by today's standards. Still, this odyssey by one of cinema's most unique voices remains an interesting dry run, if you will, for Jodorowsky to go truly bonkers in the early 1970s with his cult films El Topo and The Holy Mountain. The new 4K-scanned transfer on the ABKCO/Arrow Video Blu-ray box sets is a revelation as well, besting the previous DVD by Fantoma by a wide margin.