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Mondo film is a subgenre of exploitative
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
s. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of ''mondo films'' include portrayals of foreign cultures (which have drawn accusations of
ethnocentrism Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead o ...
or racism),Kerekes & Slater, p. 108. an emphasis on
taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
subjects 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). The term is Italian for . The term shockumentary is also used to describe the genre. Mondo films began to soar in popularity in the 1960s with the releases of ''
Mondo Cane ''Mondo Cane'' (a somewhat coarse Italian expletive, literally ) is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Sibaldi. The film ...
'' (1962), '' Women of the World'' (1963) and '' Africa Addio'' (1966). The genre arguably reached its peak with '' Faces of Death'' (1978), a film that inspired myriad imitators, such as ''
Banned from Television Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American soft core porn film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild (franchise), ''Girls Gone Wild'' entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the Broadcas ...
'', '' Death Scenes'', and the '' Traces of Death'' and ''Faces of Gore'' series.


History

Although earlier films such as Alessandro Blasetti's (''Europe by Night'' or ''European Nights'', 1959) and (''World by Night'', 1960) may be considered examples of the genre,Kerekes & Slater, p. 102. the origins of the ''mondo documentary'' are generally traced to the 1962 Italian film ''
Mondo Cane ''Mondo Cane'' (a somewhat coarse Italian expletive, literally ) is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Sibaldi. The film ...
'' (''A Dog's World''—a mild Italian
profanity Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, is the usage of notionally word taboo, offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion (such a ...
) by
Paolo Cavara Paolo Cavara (4 July 1926 – 7 August 1982) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is best known for collaborating with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on the 1962 mondo film ''Mondo Cane'', and for directing the ficti ...
, Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi which was a commercial success. Documentary films imitating ''Mondo Cane'' in the 1960s often included the term in their titles, even if they were in English; examples include ''Mondo Bizarro'', ''Mondo Daytona'', ''Mondo Mod'', ''Mondo Infame'' and '' Mondo Hollywood''.Kerekes & Slater, p. 107. Films outside the genre followed suit: '' Mondo Trasho'', ''Mondo Weirdo: A Trip to Paranoia Paradise'', '' Mondo Keyhole''Kerekes & Slater, p. 109. and ''Mondo Brutale'' (a German release of Wes Craven's '' The Last House on the Left''Kerekes & Slater, p. 315.) title themselves ''mondo'', although none are ''mondo 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. 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 of ''mondo films'' include sex (''Mondo Sex'' and ''Mondo Sexualis USA''); celebrities (''Mondo Elvis'' and ''Mondo Lugosi''); youth culture (''Mondo Teeno'') and the gay subculture (''Mondo Rocco''). Russ Meyer's film '' Mondo Topless'' was one of the few "documentaries" restricted to the old midnight movie circuit in the pre-VCR era; it explored
strip clubs A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
in 1960s
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, 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 include '' Mondo New York'' by Harvey Keith, ''Mondo di Notte'' by Gianni Proia and ''Mondo Balordo'' by Roberto Bianchi Montero. The 1980s saw a resurgence of ''mondo movies'' focusing almost exclusively on (onscreen) death, instead of world cultures. The '' Faces of Death'' series is a notable example of this type of ''mondo'' (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 Italian cannibal film is arguably an offshoot of the mondo film. The rare 1985 film ''Mondo 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 films'' in the 21st century feature gore, exemplified by the ''Faces of Gore'' and '' Traces of Death'' series. There is less fake footage, and many use news footage of accidents from
East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
. The late 2010s saw another resurgence, beginning with the ''Bootleg Death Tape'' series and ''Faces of Dying'' series from filmmaker Dustin Ferguson, which both involved various independent directors from around the world. A number of films have parodied the genre. Examples include Ricardo Fratelli's ''Mondo Ford'', '' Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' by ''
Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
''s Michael O'Donoghue, and '' Is There Sex After Death?'' by Jeanne and
Alan Abel Alan Irwin Abel (August 2, 1924 – September 14, 2018) was an American hoaxer, writer, and mockumentary filmmaker famous for several hoaxes that became media circuses. Education and early career Abel was born to a Jewish family in Zanesville ...
. ''Mondo Beyondo'' spoofed the films' approach to titling, but was a parody of satellite television.Kerekes & Slater, p. 155.


Films

The original ''mondo film'' series was the ''Mondo Cane'' series by Gualtiero Jacopetti,
Paolo Cavara Paolo Cavara (4 July 1926 – 7 August 1982) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He is best known for collaborating with Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi on the 1962 mondo film ''Mondo Cane'', and for directing the ficti ...
, and Franco Prosperi. When this type of film proved successful, many imitators followed. The pair's '' Mondo candido'' (1975) is not a ''mondo film''; the title was imposed on them by the studio, who wished to cash in on their earlier successes. The film is a retelling of
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
's novel, ''
Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...
''. In the late 1980s, Stelvio Massi (a.k.a. Max Steele) made two spin-offs of the original ''
Mondo Cane ''Mondo Cane'' (a somewhat coarse Italian expletive, literally ) is a 1962 Italian mondo documentary film and directed by the trio of Gualtiero Jacopetti, Paolo Cavara, and Franco E. Prosperi, with narration by Stefano Sibaldi. The film ...
'' series, known as ''Mondo Cane 3'' and ''Mondo Cane 4'' on video. In 1969, brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni began to make a series of their own ''mondo films'' until 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 graphic ''mondo films'' ever made. Antonio Climati, cinematographer to Prosperi and Jacopetti in many ''mondo films'', joined Mario Morra in 1974 to produce their own string of ''mondo films'', known as the "Savage Trilogy". Prosperi also produced the films. Climati and Morra were known for staging scenes. The 1978 '' Faces of Death'' popularized a ''mondo'' style known as "death films", which depicted humans or animals dying in graphic ways. Uwe Schier bought the rights to the ''Mondo Cane'' and ''Faces of Death'' films and released his own entries in both series, consisting largely of footage lifted from other ''mondo films''. ''Faces of Death V'' draws heavily on ''Death Scenes''; ''Faces of Death VI'' consists almost entirely of ''Days of Fury'' and ''Mondo Cane IV'' (not to be confused with ''Mondo Cane 2000, l'Incredibile'', Schier's ''Mondo Cane IV'' is in fact the fifth film in the series) lifts from other films (including '' Death Scenes'' and '' Death Faces IV'').Kerekes & Slater, pp. 156-158. In 1993, Hurricane Pictures edited a mix of scenes featured in ''Addio ultimo uomo'' and ''Shocking Africa'', labeling it the "fifth chapter" of the saga (''Teil V'' in German). Several imitators followed the ''Faces of Death'' series; many used (or were composed entirely of) footage from other ''mondo films''. Other ''mondo films'' and movies influenced by the genre were released.


See also

* Snuff film * Goona-goona epic


References


Bibliography

* ''RE/Search No. 10: Incredibly Strange Films'': A Guide to Deviant Films. RE/Search Publications 1986, * Brottman, Mikita: ''Mondo Horror. Carnivalizing the Taboo.'' In: Prince, Stephen (ed.) 2004: The horror film. S. 167–188. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. . * Goodall, Mark 2006: ''Sweet & Savage. The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens.'' London: Headpress. . (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. . * Kerekes, David; Slater, David 2006: ''Killing for culture. Death film from Shockumentaries to snuff.'' Manchester: Headpress. . * Stefano Loparco, 'Gualtiero Jacopetti - Graffi sul mondo'. The first complete biography dedicated to the co-director of 'Mondo cane'. Il Foglio Letterario, 2014 - * Shipka, Danny 2011: ''Perverse titillation. The exploitation cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960-1980.'' Jefferson: Mcfarland. .


Another


Italian Mondo / Shockumentary movies: 1984-1988

The History of Mondo & Shockumentary Films
{{Italian film genres Film genres Documentary film genres