The granddaddy of the sick but surprisingly popular "shockumentary" format favoured by real-death movies like the infamous FACES OF DEATH series, MONDO CANE is a sometimes naïve, sometimes shocking journey through dozens of bizarre world practices, rituals and lifestyles. Although the sex angle has badly dated since the '60s - bikini-clad dancing Honolulu girls are no longer controversial or topical - the film is still surprisingly efficient at disturbing, surprising, and sometimes disgusting the viewer. The overall impact of the film ranges from the humorous to the downright pathetic, stirring feelings of pathos, morbidity, and sometimes overwhelming grief into the mix. It's surprisingly moving in parts, considering the subject matter, helped no doubt by the Oscar-winning music which actually makes it harder-hitting than it ought to be. Jacopetti keeps his narration interesting and informative, without being too condescending to the people portrayed.
One particular sequence highlights the effects that a nuclear blast has had on a Pacific atoll. Eggs are sterile and sea turtles have lost their sense of direction, crawling aimlessly back on to the sand instead of the sea where they bake to death. One heart-wrenching sequence shows a delirious turtle, on the brink of death, feebly flapping its limbs as it mistakenly believes its back in the water. I'm not ashamed to say this bit had me in tears.
Thankfully, not all of this film is downbeat and some of it is quite educational. Subjects range from female tribes hunting down their menfolk to a native race who have erected a monument to the aeroplane, in the mistaken belief that planes are heaven-sent. Then there are the bizarre scenes of a pig being breastfed, pet cemeteries in the US, chicks being coloured and baked in an oven, geese being force-fed, cattle massages, a restaurant where ants and beetles are served as the delicacies, birds living under the ground, and drunken Germans losing all sense of self-respect.
The film is definitely not for the squeamish, showing makeup being applied to corpses and Chinese folk waiting on the verge of death (the camera thrust in their faces) whilst their families celebrate. The nastiest moment for me is a religious practice in an Italian village, where men slice open their legs with glass and let the blood dribble down the streets - this is really gruesome. Animal-lovers should look elsewhere, as bulls are beheaded and pigs cruelly slaughtered. Cute lovable puppies are caged up and eaten in eastern restaurants. Although the tone is occasionally exploitative, this is head and shoulders above the increasingly disgusting shockumentaries that followed and at moments it becomes really moving. Worth at least one watch for lovers of the curious.
One particular sequence highlights the effects that a nuclear blast has had on a Pacific atoll. Eggs are sterile and sea turtles have lost their sense of direction, crawling aimlessly back on to the sand instead of the sea where they bake to death. One heart-wrenching sequence shows a delirious turtle, on the brink of death, feebly flapping its limbs as it mistakenly believes its back in the water. I'm not ashamed to say this bit had me in tears.
Thankfully, not all of this film is downbeat and some of it is quite educational. Subjects range from female tribes hunting down their menfolk to a native race who have erected a monument to the aeroplane, in the mistaken belief that planes are heaven-sent. Then there are the bizarre scenes of a pig being breastfed, pet cemeteries in the US, chicks being coloured and baked in an oven, geese being force-fed, cattle massages, a restaurant where ants and beetles are served as the delicacies, birds living under the ground, and drunken Germans losing all sense of self-respect.
The film is definitely not for the squeamish, showing makeup being applied to corpses and Chinese folk waiting on the verge of death (the camera thrust in their faces) whilst their families celebrate. The nastiest moment for me is a religious practice in an Italian village, where men slice open their legs with glass and let the blood dribble down the streets - this is really gruesome. Animal-lovers should look elsewhere, as bulls are beheaded and pigs cruelly slaughtered. Cute lovable puppies are caged up and eaten in eastern restaurants. Although the tone is occasionally exploitative, this is head and shoulders above the increasingly disgusting shockumentaries that followed and at moments it becomes really moving. Worth at least one watch for lovers of the curious.