Mondo film
This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(November 2012) |
Mondo filmis a subgenre ofexploitivedocumentary films.Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble apseudo-documentaryand usually depictingsensationaltopics, scenes, or situations. Common traits ofmondo filmsinclude portrayals of foreign cultures (which have drawn accusations ofethnocentrismor racism),[1]an emphasis ontaboosubjects such as death and sex, and staged sequences presented as genuine documentary footage. Over time, the films have placed increasing emphasis on footage of the dead and dying (both real and fake).[2]
The termmondois Italian for'world'.The termshockumentaryis also used to describe the genre.
Mondo films began to soar in popularity in the 1960s with the releases ofMondo Cane(1962),Women of the World(1963) andAfrica Addio(1966). The genre arguably reached its peak withFaces of Death(1978), a film that inspired a myriad of imitators, such asBanned from Television,Death Scenes,and theTraces of DeathandFaces of Goreseries.
History
[edit]Although earlier films such asAlessandro Blasetti'sEuropa di notte (Europe By Night,1959) andLuigi Vanzi'sIl mondo di notte (World By Night,1961) may be considered examples of the genre,[3]the origins of themondo documentaryare generally traced to the 1962ItalianfilmMondo Cane(A Dog's World—a mild Italianprofanity) byPaolo Cavara,Gualtiero Jacopettiand Franco Prosperi which was a commercial success.[4][5][6]
Documentary films imitatingMondo Canein the 1960s often included the termmondoin their titles, even if they were in English; examples includeMondo Bizarro,Mondo Daytona,Mondo Mod,Mondo InfameandMondo Hollywood.[7]Films outside the genre followed suit:Mondo Trasho,Mondo Weirdo: A Trip to Paranoia Paradise,Mondo Keyhole[8]andMondo Brutale(a German release ofWes Craven'sThe Last House on the Left[9]) title themselvesmondo,although none aremondo documentaries.Later in the decade, this naming convention began to fall out of favour and fewer mondo films identified themselves as such in their titles.[7]The War Game,a 1965 British film depicting conditions before and after a nuclear attack on England, would not see public broadcast for twenty years.
Filmmakers wanted to top each other in shock value to attract audiences. Cruelty to animals, accidents, tribal-initiation rites and surgeries are features of a typical mondo. Much of the action is staged, although the filmmakers may claim their goal is to document "reality". Subjects ofmondo filmsinclude sex (Mondo SexandMondo Sexualis USA); celebrities (Mondo ElvisandMondo Lugosi); youth culture (Mondo Teeno) and the gay subculture (Mondo Rocco).
Russ Meyer's filmMondo Toplesswas one of the few "documentaries" restricted to the oldmidnight moviecircuit in the pre-VCR era; it exploredstrip clubsin 1960sSan Francisco,at a time when strip clubs were a novelty in the United States, restricted to centers of port-city decadence (such as San Francisco). Other examples of this genre includeMondo New Yorkby Harvey Keith,Mondo di Notteby Gianni Proia andMondo Balordoby Roberto Bianchi Montero.
The 1980s saw a resurgence ofmondo moviesfocusing almost exclusively on (onscreen) death, instead of world cultures. TheFaces of Deathseries is a notable example of this type ofmondo(or "death" ) movie. The producers used fake footage (passed off as real), but some of the footage was legitimate (including scenes of autopsies, suicides and accidents).
The rare 1985 filmMondo Senza Veli( "World Without Veils or Mondo Fresh" ) was purported by viewers to feature at its end the brutal execution of a young Arab rapist by public rectal impalement. This episode was, however, believed to have been a staged execution by some viewers.
Mondo filmsin the 21st century feature gore, exemplified by theFaces of GoreandTraces of Deathseries. There is less fake footage, and many use news footage of accidents fromEast Asia.[citation needed]
The late 2010s saw another resurgence, beginning with theBootleg Death Tapeseries andFaces of Dyingseries from filmmakerDustin Ferguson,which both involved various independent Directors from around the world.
A number of films have parodied the genre. Examples include Ricardo Fratelli'sMondo Ford,Mr. Mike's Mondo VideobySaturday Night Live'sMichael O'Donoghue,andIs There Sex After Death?by Jeanne and Alan Abel.Mondo Beyondospoofed the films' approach to titling, but was a parody of satellite television.[10]TheItalian cannibal filmis arguably an offshoot of the mondo film.[8]
Films
[edit]The originalmondo filmseries was theMondo Caneseries byGualtiero Jacopetti,Paolo Cavara,and Franco Prosperi. When this type of film proved successful, many imitators followed.
Title | Year | Country | Director and screenplay | Music | Uncut run time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mondo Cane | 1962 | Italy | Gualtiero Jacopetti Paolo Cavara Franco E. Prosperi |
Riz Ortolani | 108 minutes | R-rated run time 85 minutes |
La donna nel mondo | 1963 | Riz Ortolani Nino Oliviero |
107 minutes | a.k.a.Women of the World | ||
Mondo Cane 2 | 1963 | Gualtiero Jacopetti Franco Prosperi |
Nino Oliviero | 95 minutes | R-rated run time 76 minutes; a.k.a.Mondo Pazzo | |
Africa Addio | 1966 | Riz Ortolani | 139 minutes | Unrated English version 128 minutes; R-rated version 80 minutes | ||
Addio Zio Tom | 1971 | 136 minutes | Unrated English version 123 minutes; a.k.a.Goodbye Uncle Tom |
The pair'sMondo candido(1975) is not amondo film;the title was imposed on them by the studio, who wished to cash in on their earlier successes. The film is a retelling ofVoltaire's novel,Candide.
In the late 1980s,Stelvio Massi(a.k.a. Max Steele) made two spinoffs of the originalMondo Caneseries, known asMondo Cane 3andMondo Cane 4on video.
Title | Year | Country | Director and cinematography | Screenplay | Uncut run time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mondo cane oggi - L'orrore continua | 1986 | Italy | Stelvio Massi | Stelvio Massi | 78 minutes | a.k.a.Mondo Cane 3 |
Mondo cane 2000 - L'incredibile | 1988 | G. Crisanti | 73 minutes | a.k.a.Mondo Cane 4 |
In 1969, brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni began to make a series of their ownmondo filmsuntil the early 1980s. They made five films in all, tying Jacopetti and Prosperi as the most prolific mondo film producers. Each film examines brutal and bizarre behavior on the African continent. Their films are considered some of the most graphicmondo filmsever made.[11]
Title | Year | Country | Directors | Music | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Africa segreta | 1969 | Italy |
|
Angelo Francesco Lavagnino | a.k.a.Secret Africa;uncut run time 103 min |
Africa ama | 1971 | a.k.a.Africa Uncensored | |||
Magia nuda | 1975 | Ciro Dammicco (credited as Zacar) | a.k.a.Mondo Magic | ||
Addio ultimo uomo | 1978 | Franco Godi | a.k.a.The Last Savage | ||
Africa dolce e selvaggia | 1982 | a.k.a.Shocking Africa |
Antonio Climati,cinematographer to Prosperi and Jacopetti in manymondo films,joinedMario Morrain 1974 to produce their own string ofmondo films,known as the "Savage Trilogy". Prosperi also produced the films. Climati and Morra were known for staging scenes.
Title | Year | Country | Directors | Music | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ultime grida dalla savana | 1975 | Italy |
|
Carlo Savina | a.k.a.Savage Man Savage Beast;uncut run time 94 min |
Savana violenta | 1976 | a.k.a.This Violent World | |||
Dolce e selvaggio | 1983 | Daniele Patucchi | a.k.a.Sweet and Savage |
The 1978Faces of Deathpopularized amondostyle known as "death films", which depicted humans or animals dying in graphic ways.
Title | Year | Director | Screenplay | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Faces of Death Series | 1978–1996 | John Alan Schwartz | John Alan Schwartz | Six parts |
The Worst of Faces of Death | 1987 | Compilation of first threeFaces of Deathfilms | ||
Faces of Death: Fact or Fiction? | 1999 |
|
Documentary aboutFaces of Death |
Uwe Schier bought the rights to theMondo CaneandFaces of Deathfilms and released his own entries in both series, consisting largely of footage lifted from othermondo films.Faces of Death 5draws heavily onDeath Scenes;Faces of Death 6consists almost entirely ofDays of FuryandMondo Cane IV(not to be confused withMondo Cane 2000, l'Incredibile,Schier'sMondo Cane IVis in fact the fifth film in the series) lifts from other films (includingDeath ScenesandDeath Faces IV).[12]In 1993, Hurricane Pictures edited a mix of scenes featured inAddio ultimo uomoandShocking Africa,labeling it the "fifth chapter" of the saga (Teil Vin German).
Title | Year | Country | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Mondo Cane IV | 1992 | Germany | |
Mondo Cane teil V | 1993 | a.k.a.Mondo Cane 5 | |
Faces of Death 5 | 1995 | ||
Faces of Death 6 | 1996 |
Several imitators followed theFaces of Deathseries; many used (or were composed entirely of) footage from othermondo films.
Title | Year | Director | Screenplay | Music | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banned from Television | 1998 | Joe Francis | APM Music | Three parts; released in the US byMantra Films. | |
Banned! In America | 1998–2003 | Nomo Ichi | Delta 9 | Six parts; released in the US byBrain Damage Films. | |
TheTraces of Deathseries | 1993–2000 | Damon Fox | Various | Five parts | |
TheFaces of Goreseries | 1999–2000 | Todd Tjersland | Three parts | ||
The Best of Faces of Gore | 2000 | Compilation video | |||
TheDeath Scenesseries | 1989–1993 | Nick Bougas |
|
Richard Gibson,Peter H. Gilmore | Three parts |
Title | Year | Country | Director | Screenplay | Music | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mondo nudo | 1963 | Italy | Francesco De Feo | Gian Carlo Fusco Giuseppe Marotta |
Teo Usuelli | a.k.a.Naked World |
I tabu | 1963 | Italy | Romolo Marcellini | Ugo Guerra | a.k.a.Taboos of the World | |
Il pelo nel mondo | 1964 | Italy | Antonio Margheriti Marco Vicario |
Antonio Margheriti Marco Vicario |
Bruno Nicolai Nino Oliviero |
a.k.a.Go Go Go WorldandWeird, Wicked World |
Kwaheri: Vanishing Africa | 1964 | United States | Thor L. Brooks Byron Chudnow |
Michael Vittes | Byron Ross | |
I Malamondo | 1964 | Italy | Paolo Cavara | Guido Castaldo Paolo Cavara Ugo Gregoretti Francesco Torti |
Ennio Morricone | |
Le Schiave Esistono Ancora | 1964 | Italy |
|
|
Teo Usuelli | a.k.a.Slave Trade in the World Today |
Ecco | 1964 | Italy | Gianni Proia | R.W Cresse | Riz Ortolani | a.k.a.This Shocking World |
Mondo Balordo | 1964 | Italy | Roberto Bianchi Montero |
|
|
English version narrated byBoris Karloff |
L'amore primitivo | 1964 | Italy | Luigi Scattini |
|
Lallo Gori | a.k.a.Primitive Love |
Mondo Topless | 1966 | United States | Russ Meyer | The Aladdins | ||
Mondo Freudo | 1966 | United States | Lee Frost |
|
||
Mondo Bizarro | 1966 | United States | Lee Frost | Lawrence Von Lattman | ||
Macabro | 1966 | Italy | Romolo Marcellini | Giancarlo Del Re | ||
The Mystery and the Pleasure | 1966 | United Kingdom | Edward Stewart Abraham | a.k.a.Our Incredible World | ||
Mondo oscenità | 1966 | United States | Joseph P. Mawra | Ernest Franklin | a.k.a.World of Obscenity | |
Mondo Hollywood | 1967 | United States | Robert Carl Cohen | Mike Curb | ||
Sweden: Heaven and Hell | 1968 | Italy | Luigi Scattini | Piero Umiliani | ||
L'altra faccia del peccato | 1969 | Italy | Marcello Avallone |
|
Peppino De Luca | a.k.a.The Queer, the Erotic |
Mille peccati... nessuna virtù | 1969 | Italy | Sergio Martino | Peppino De Luca | a.k.a.Mondo Sex | |
Inghilterra nuda | 1969 | Italy | Vittorio De Sisti | Pino De Martino Ettore Mattia |
Piero Piccioni | a.k.a.Naked England |
America così nuda, così violenta | 1970 | Italy | Sergio Martino | Luciano Martino | Bruno Nicolai | a.k.a.Naked and Violent |
Dove non è peccato | 1970 | Italy | Antonio Colantuoni |
|
Piero Umiliani | a.k.a.Tämä on Suomi (This is Finland) |
Shocking Asia | 1974 | West Germany | Rolf Olsen |
|
Erwin Halletz | Uncut run time 94 min. |
Australia After Dark | 1975 | Australia | John D. Lamond | |||
Notti Porno nel Mondo | 1977 | Italy | Bruno Mattei | Gianni Marchetti | a.k.a.Mondo Erotica | |
This Is America | 1977 | United States | Romano Vanderbes | Emmanuel Vardi | a.k.a.Crazy Ridiculous American People(UK),Jabberwalk | |
Brutes and Savages | 1978 | United States | Arthur Davis | Jenny Craven | Riz Ortolani | |
Mr. Mike's Mondo Video | 1979 | United States | Michael O'Donoghue | Mitch Glazer | Paul Shaffer | |
This Is America Part 2 | 1980 | United States | Romano Vanderbes | Bill Milling | Emmanuel Vardi | |
Days of Fury | 1980 | United States | Fred Warshofsky | a.k.a.Doomsday | ||
Des Morts | 1981 |
|
Jean-Pol Ferbus Dominique Garny Thierry Zéno |
Alain Pierre | a.k.a.Of the Dead;uncut run time 105 min. | |
Great White Death | 1981 |
|
Jean-Patrick Lebel | Jean Sauvageau | a.k.a.Sharks! Pirates of the Deep | |
The Killing of America | 1982 | United States |
|
|
|
a.k.a.Violence U.S.A.in Japan; uncut run time 90 min. |
Shocking Asia II: The Last Taboos | 1985 | West Germany | Rolf Olsen | Erwin Halletz | ||
True Gore | 1987 | United States | M. Dixon Causey |
|
||
Mondo New York | 1988 | United States | Harvey Keith |
|
Luis Perico Ortiz | Uncut run time 83 min. |
Empire of Madness | 1989 | United States | M. Dixon Causey | a.k.a.True Gore II | ||
Engineering Red | 1993 | United States | Russia | Andrey Yi | Andrey Yi | |
Mondo Ford | 2001 | United States | United States |
|
||
Man VS Man | 2004 | Italy |
|
|||
Murder Collection V.1 | 2009 | United States | Fred Vogel | Don Moore Fred Vogel Shelby Vogel Jerami Cruise |
||
Mondo Sexxxx: The Terry Kobrah Story | 2011 | United States | Logan Myers | |||
Mondo Delirium | 2011 | Italy | Flavio Sciolè | Uncut run time 170 min. | ||
Made in Italy | 2012 | Italy | Jephta | |||
Mondomanila | 2012 | Philippines | Khavn | |||
Bootleg Death Tape | 2012 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Most Disturbed Person on Planet Earth | 2013 | United States | Thomas Extreme Cinemagore | |||
Most Disturbed Person on Planet Earth II | 2014 | United States | Thomas Extreme Cinemagore | |||
Occult Holocaust | 2014 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | a.k.a. Occult Predator | ||
Faces of Dying | 2015 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Mondo Shock | 2016 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Mondo CANEvese | 2016 | Italy |
|
|||
At the shadow of the tower | 2017 | Italy |
|
|||
Heart of Africa | 2018 | Italy |
|
|||
Most Disturbed Person On Planet Earth 3 | 2019 | United States | Thomas Extreme Cinemagore | |||
HollyWEIRD | 2020 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Bootleg Death Tape II | 2020 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Bootleg Death Tape III | 2020 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Faces of Dying II | 2021 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Faces of Dying III: The Final Assault | 2021 | United States | Dustin Ferguson | |||
Mondo Shock 2 | 2021 | United States | Dustin Ferguson |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Kerekes & Slater, p. 108.
- ^Mondo New York (1988)The New York Times
- ^Kerekes & Slater, p. 102.
- ^Mondo Cane (1962)The New York Times
- ^Revisiting a Cinematic Smackdown, and Other Avant-Garde PleasuresThe New York Times, October 1, 2009
- ^Mondo CaneVariety Reviews, December 31, 1961
- ^abKerekes & Slater, p. 107.
- ^abKerekes & Slater, p. 109.
- ^Kerekes & Slater, p. 315.
- ^Kerekes & Slater, p. 155.
- ^Dennison, Stephanie; Lim, Song Hwee (2006).Remapping World Cinema: Identity, Culture and Politics in Film.Wallflower Press. pp. 121–122.ISBN978-1-904764-62-5.Retrieved15 July2024.
- ^Kerekes & Slater, pp. 156-158.
Bibliography
[edit]- RE/Search No. 10:Incredibly Strange Films:A Guide to Deviant Films.RE/SearchPublications 1986,ISBN0-940642-09-3
- Brottman, Mikita:Mondo Horror. Carnivalizing the Taboo.In: Prince, Stephen (ed.) 2004: The horror film. S. 167–188. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.ISBN0813533635.
- Goodall, Mark 2006:Sweet & Savage. The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens.London: Headpress.ISBN978-1900486491.(the standard work on the mondo and cannibal genre)
- Goodall, Mark 2006:Shockumentary Evidence. The perverse politics of the Mondo film.In: Dennison, Stephanie (Hg.) 2006:Remapping world cinema. Identity, culture and politics in film.S. 118–128. London: Wallflower.ISBN978-1904764625.
- Kerekes, David; Slater, David 2006:Killing for culture. Death film from Shockumentaries to snuff.Manchester: Headpress.ISBN1900486636.
- Stefano Loparco, 'Gualtiero Jacopetti - Graffi sul mondo'. The first complete biography dedicated to the co-director of 'Mondo cane'. Il Foglio Letterario, 2014 -ISBN9788876064760
- Shipka, Danny 2011:Perverse titillation. The exploitation cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980.Jefferson: Mcfarland.ISBN978-0786448883.