When Blue Underground released the 8-disc Mondo Cane Collection in the latter half of 2003, The Duke was instantly intrigued. Comprising Mondo Cane, Mondo Cane 2, Women Of The World, Africa Addio and Zio Uncle Tom, the latter duo complete with separate Directors Cuts, this set housed some of the most notorious, controversial and seldom-viewed films in the history of cinema.
It took a while to get over the extortionate asking-price, and longer still to convince The Duchess that such an item was an essential purchase for a student of Filmic Affairs such as myself, but there came the day when the postman knocked on the gates of Mondo Towers clutching the freshly-imported box.
And it has taken until now for The Duke to finally get a look at those discs contained therein, sitting down this very evening, with a ready supply of caffeine and nicotine, in order to experience the infamous Mondo Cane.
It was pretty much immediately apparent that the film, also known by its literal translation, A Dog's Life, was the victim of both the flood of pale, deplorable, morally repugnant imitations that followed, and a deeply unjust reputation. Far from the seedy, offensive torrent of barbarity that some have claimed Jacopetti and Prosperi's film to be, Mondo Cane is in fact humane, funny and deeply captivating. Which is not to say it doesn't shock the bejeesus out of the viewer on occasion, but there's certainly a lot more to it than sensationalist blood-letting.
Sadly, there is also a fair amount of fabrication, something which would appear even more so in the sequel, itself disowned by at least one half of the directing team.
Mondo Cane opens with a shot of a small dog being led forcefully towards its possibly permanent home in a pound. A written introduction appears onscreen, warning us that what we are about to witness are actual occurrences caught on camera, and we may well be shocked by the realities of the world around us. Contradicting this proclamation, however, is the ridiculously transparent nature of the soundtrack editing at this point. As the dog enters its new home, we hear anguished yelps, growls, snarls. This runs somewhat apposite to the rather jovial nature of the actual events onscreen.
But if this bout of animal torment is fabricated, then it is more than compensated for by the vicious treatment of less-fortunate creatures over the ensuing two hours.
Article comments
1 - Andrés Mego
Hi
Your review is great. I used it as input for my own article about "Mondo Cane" in my blog (in spanish, sorry) Do you have more info about the making of this film?
Regards
Andrés
2 - Elizabeth Riggs
We just got the Mondo Cane movies (just Mondo Cane I and II), and they are as good as I remembered them from the early 60s when I went to see it with one of my guy friends. (Back then, we used to date a lot of guys before settling down to "going steady" and finally to engagement and marriage.) I was then, and am now, fascinated by the juxtaposition of so many seemingly antithetical cultural practices. Back then, I was most intrigued by the Cargo Cult, and have followed info about it. It's almost sad that this quirky view of Heaven and Earth has about gone the way of the Dodo bird. Your review was pretty much along the lines of my "take" on these two movies, and I'll be back for more! Thanks, Duke!
Cheerio!
Elizabeth