As the Spanish Civil War draws to a close, Fando, a young boy, is tormented by violently conflicting feelings towards his mother, who he suspects may have had a role in his fathers capture by fascists; feelings that manifest themselves as a nightmare onslaught of terrifying and bizarre imagery. Based on Fernando Arrabals own brutal experiences during the Civil War, Viva la muerte is a shockingly provocative work of surrealist cinema from the artist and filmmaker, who co-founded the Panic Movement collective alongside Alejandro Jodorowsky. Acclaimed on release by critics and scorned by censors, Viva la Muerte would later achieve notoriety as a midnight movie, and was a favourite film of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
