MONDO CANE

(1962)

This was the original shockumentary that started it all. We follow the exploits of journalist Gualtiero Jacopetti as he takes his camera where no one dared and frightened audiences of all ages with weird rituals and bizarre customs of tribal societies. A stray dog is placed in a kennel and the audience it led to believe that the poor creature is torn to bits by the dramatic music and images of growling dogs. Footage from New Guinea is showcased and we see many bare breasted natives, one early weird scene shows a woman suckling a piglet and we are told she had an infant who had died and the pig was given to her to by tribal law. We next see one of the first of many counter spectacles in this film as men from the same tribe are shown clubbing pigs to death, the narrator adds that these men may have indeed tasted human flesh. We then see a pet cemetery in Hollywood and in an ironic twist Thai restaurants which serve dogs on their menu. Cattle Breeders in Japan are shown feeding cows beer and massaging them to tenderize their meat. The camera then moves to scenes of radioactive islands and explains that the effects of the blast have altered the animal population by knocking out there sense of direction and natural instincts. We then see another weird counter spectacle with ritual cattle decapitations followed by a running of the bulls in Spain. This first ever Mondo film was quite a spectacle to those who had never been oversees or encountered Asia up close. Yet I must stress that this film does not include any human death or images of dead bodies, this makes the film much less gory then most Mondo style films. Not so much a genuine documentary in a legitimate way but much better made then most of today's Mondo films which uses human death as their sole focus. Btw- Cane is pronounced like Kahn.

Review by: Losman

Email: losman@express-news.net

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