Mondo cane n. 2

Mondo Cane 2, is a second film in the popular Mondo Cane documentary series. The film is Italian although it is dubbed into English. Like, Mondo Cane this film doesn't just focus on one subject for it's documentary but several rather. Such scenes include Mexican children eating candy in the shape of body parts, a Buddhist who sets himself on fire and a concert where man are slapped to the tune of the music being played. I enjoyed Mondo Cane 2, just like I enjoyed the original Mondo Cane. It is beautifully filmed and all of the scenes right until the very end are fascinating and intriguing. The narrator also gives us some neat facts and during the movie you will once again wonder how some of this footage was filmed. The directors behind Mondo Cane and Mondo Cane 2, would later go on to do more films in the series including Africa: Blood And Guts and Goodbye Uncle Tom. Mondo Cane 2 is another entertaining and fascinating film and I look forward to seeing other films in this very intriguing and entertaining series.

MONDO CANE was an educational documentary featuring shocking scenes of human life and animal life. MONDO CANE 2 is just as educational and interesting, unlike the many imitators that erupted on video (i.e, FACES OF DEATH, etc.).

I can't really write a full-fledged review of the film, as it is just sequence after sequence. It's all interesting and you really learn things from the way it's presented. Some of my favorite scenes: the Parisian transvestite bar; a daring Mexican police shooting range; the Mexican Festival of the Dead (with skulls filled with cream, marzipan corpses, and live parasite tortillas); bugs turned into jewelry; Hawaiian tourists bathing in radioactive mud to freshen their skin; numerous religious fanatical acts in Italy and Portugal; rituals of pain in India; modeling sessions for gory pulp fiction book covers; smuggled footage of illegal slave trading in Africa; Sudanese tribes collecting dewdrops from plants because of a limited water supply; dancers wearing toilet paper being squirted with seltzer water; the Festival of Hard Heads in Italy (must be seen to be believed!); the artist Achille's paint-spitting party; a musical symphony enacted by slapping faces; Asian monks committing self-immolation; a heartbreaking sequence of pollution causing baby flamingos to mutate and die; and an African tribe becomes sterile because of their crocodile meat diet.

Amazing stuff throughout and never too boring, MONDO CANE 2 is lots of fun and will please those looking for something odd, intelligent, and something you can learn from.

Continuing where they left off, the filmakers begin at a dog shelter stating that the first "MONDO CANE" was banned in the UK because of its depiction of dogs. The joking opening aside this sequel had more interesting segments in it than the first, and there was probably a tad more violence in this one. I had an extremely difficult time obtaining this 2nd "MONDO", (I've seen the 1st at almost every video store *except Blockbuster), so if you run across it make sure you pick it up.

I recently picked up the "Mondo Cane collection" from Blue Underground. The third of the official Mondo films is the sequel to Mondo cane. Some of the segments are interesting, some are boring, some are heart-breaking & some seem like filler. On a whole this is not as good of a documentary as the first Mondo film was. Still worth watching at least once, i guess.

My Grade:C

Dvd Extras: 2 theatrical trailers (USA & international); radio spot; & poster and stills gallery

*A guaranteed laugh or more, some may feel like shedding a tear, but all-in-all I thought Mondo Cane 2 was great for a claimed, 'shockumentary'. Far better than the shockumentaries: Faces of Death(which were for the most part fake), and Traces of Death(which was more shocking, but composed of death, accidents, and etc caught on tape accompanied by crappy metal music). The Mondo Cane movies are an Italian version of a National Geographic documentary slapped with sarcasm and exploitation--some of which was amazing footage of the cold hard truth we should all be exposed to. The English dubbing made it easier to watch, yet in some areas they would have done better with subs. The score, like the first's, was appropriate and fun. Overall, it met my expectations after watching the first, and I plan to continue with the series.