Mondo cane

A bizarre film narrated by Gualteiro Jacopetti. All sorts of bizarre and disgusting things are shown on film. There's real documented scenes by Jacopetti around the world about nudity, sex, orgies, naked sketching, bullfighting, shark attacks, drunken Germans, witchcraft, cannabilism, a chicken that smokes (!), and even a look in an asian restaurant where dogs are served as the special of the day!! This is just like a big newsreel montage that lasts ninety minutes. It's pretty amazing. It's another one of those other than Japanese films that I thought was really appealing because it's SOO bizarre. Not for the squeamish.

"Mondo Cane" of 1962 is the first of a bunch of Italian 'Mondo' Shockumentaries and, without any doubt, an immensely influential piece of Exploitation cinema. Gualtiero Jacopetti and Paolo Carva came up with an entirely new style of film-making with this, and back in 1962 it must have made even greater an impact on audiences, and also been more shocking than it is now. While some folks might point out that "Mondo Cane" may seem slightly dated, one must not forget that this was revolutionary and ground-breaking for its time and highly influential for many films to come. "Mondo Cane" has spawned quite a bunch of other 'Mondo' films including the sequel "Mondo Cane 2" as well as the notorious "Addio Zio Tom" (1971), and furthermore served as an influence to countless exploitation classics including masterpieces such as Ruggero Deodato's "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980). But it is not merely the film's classic status and influence that make this worth watching. "Mondo Cane" is a highly interesting, and often bizarrely ironical film as such, and everybody interested in Exploitation cinema should see it at least once.

"Mondo Cane" shows more or less unrelated scenes from around the world, some of which are shocking, others comical. To label the film as sensationalist may be justified to a certain point, but people who are bothered by this are probably not best advised to watch Exploitation cinema anyway. The scenes include such different things as drunk people behaving like drunk people do, or scenes in a massage parlor, the slaughtering of animals (these are real documentary shots, so Peta and pals are probably best advised not to see them), or bizarre religious rituals. While the film is a documentary it is not to 100 per cent. Inbetween real scenes there are some which are obviously fake, and several with which neither is obvious and which cold be either staged or real. Some might label the premise of "Mondo Cane" voyeuristic or sensationalist, but the film never looks down upon the depicted people, especially not tribesmen of so-called primitive cultures. Some of the scenes are actually quite funny, and make it harder to take the whole thing seriously, but then, some of them are highly interesting, some of them shocking (in a comparatively un-explicit manner), and in some parts, especially in the second half, the film becomes downright fascinating. The brilliant score by maestro Riz Ortolani adds a lot to the atmosphere and overall value of the film. "Mondo Cane" is narrated, and the voice-overs are actually quite interesting without seeming too serious for the films own good. One may look at this film in one way or another, but the least one can say is that Giacopetti and Cavara deserve great respect as pioneers. Not to be missed by fans of Exploitation/Cult cinema!

Although i cannot say that this was an especially good movie, I can say that you should not see it as an exploitation of other cultures, but as a view of the world from an indifferent point of view. Even though the film might have been made as a way of shocking viewers and making a profit, you should take from it the fact that what seems shocking or unusual by us can be of nature to others, and things we do in our everyday lives can seem shocking to others. i give it a 6/10.

As retro films go, Mondo Cane is still a refreshing take on schlock, documentary filmmaking, hilariously camp in it's motives and of more than passing interest in this age of reality TV. The setups and prurient approach that made these films popular at the time of their release is only re-reflected in the equally blatant, reality trash that has successfully been permeating TV since the turn of the new century. It's stunning just how the tastes of pop-culture audiences have changed in the last 50 years or so. A retrospective of the Mondo film genre is represented beautifully in a nicely-packaged DVD box set, which includes a terrifically interesting documentary on the two filmmakers, Jacopetti and Prosperi, who started the trend with this Italian potboiler back in 1962. MONDO CANE is not as dated as some would lead you to believe, particularly if you examine the motives behind it, and the method of it's humor and social commentary. Perhaps the most significant contribution MONDO CANE offers as a film chronicle, and undeniably the most artistic, is the Riz Ortolani/Nino Oliviero music score which includes one of the great melodies of the 20th Century, MORE. MONDO CANE is a "reality" movie sure to please even the most jaded multiplexer. Beautifully photographed and scored.

Uneven but fascinating documentary on bizarre customs around the world. It has a few dull stretches (the auto junkyard scene) and the narration sometimes gets a little too condescending. But there are also unforgettable scenes (the giant sea turtle that has lost any sense of orientation, great bullfighting footage) that make "Mondo Cane" essential viewing for anyone who is even mildly interested in cult films. (***)