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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Animal Cruelty: Mondo Movies & The Cannibal Connection

Disclaimer during the opening moments of MONDO CANE (1962)





The most painful sequence in Umberto Lenzi's CANNIBAL FEROX (1981)














































Will Errickson said...

Amazing, if sad and disturbing, post. I can't believe I've seen a good handful of these as well; I don't know how you stomached watching all of them!

venoms5 said...

Actually I wrote this a long time ago, Will. I cut it in half and redid portions of it the other night. I didn't watch MONDO CANE again, or AFRICA, ADDIO aside from doing the few pics I did. Both are quite brilliant movies despite the controversy surrounding them. I think possibly the most nauseating mondo movie (at least of the ones I've seen) is ADDIO, ULTIMO UOMO. I didn't even finish that one. I'll have to revisit that one again, soon, too.

Now the Cannibal piece from a few weeks ago, I had to rewatch those and that was DEFINITELY a chore to see so many back to back like that!

Thanks again for reading, Will.

I Like Horror Movies said...

I am not one of the viewers that is completely appalled by the animal cruelty in many of these films, which I am often criticized for, but I just cant honestly say that I care. It is disturbing, yes, but I dont take a personal offense to it. I dont know that I could sit through AFRICA ADDIO or MONDO CANE though since they just dont appeal to me in any way. My favorite scene of AC if you could call it that has to be the monkey scene, particularly in the special features on the AB and BU discs where Martino openly refutes that they intentionally provoked the snake

venoms5 said...

Both MONDO CANE and AFRICA, ADDIO are monumental and extraordinary films. The latter is especially loaded with violence. The AFRICA BLOOD & GUTS version is nothing but the exploitation and little of the epic feel of the whole piece. However, the extended cut features some gruesome things not found in the cut down US version.

Yeah, that was pretty funny about the monkey/snake scene. Personally, I don't think these guys need to keep apologizing or making excuses for such things. It was a different time and sad these kinds of things took place, but similar instances go on today.

R.A.M.'67 said...

Another well-written piece on a disturbingly complex subject. Staging of animal conflicts certainly has happened on many levels; even the highly-esteemed TV show "[Mutual of Omaha's] Wild Kingdom" (in the "Marlin Perkins" years) got caught doing this! As of this date, if one takes in nature programs from National Geographic and Animal Planet, it seems AP is going more exploitive than NG, as evidenced by the current spotlighting of the recurring element found on all their "Animal Cops" shows: the pet collectors. In tune with the hoarding programs now found on A&E and TLC, AP now brings people "Confessions: Animal Hoarding"! These shows must be touching different viewers in different ways, the worst case scenario being "bread and circuses". Also, there are the moments of animal cruelty found in the "Faces of Death" movies, too, in-between the staged goings-on in THOSE ones; I saw two of those, and they were my first exposure to the "Mondo" experience.... In closing, this is very thoughtful writing here; some "animal rights" people would appreciate your commentary here! Solid work, venoms5!

venoms5 said...

Hi, Fang. Thanks again for reading! I remember WILD KINGDOM on TV as a kid. Did Orson Welles narrate this at some point? I seem to remember a narrator sounding a lot like him anyways.

R.A.M.'67 said...

To my recollection, it was always the hosts of WILD KINGDOM (they went out tagging the animals, wrestling crocs, etc.) who did the narrating, including Jim Fowler and Marlin Perkins himself. Orson did narrate nature films, of course; one of those in your overview may be an example, I think!... WILD WILD ANIMALS (with William Conrad as narrator, I might have the title wrong) was a show I also liked; the filming was done by that Survival-Anglia organization that has done lots of nature programs.... As for more recent documentaries, GRIZZLY MAN really floored me, it was that powerful. In the end, one felt a touch more for the bear who got shot after killing Timothy Treadwell and his girlfriend (the TRUE innocent after the bear); from day one, Treadwell knew he was at some risk, so he had it coming to him, unfortunately. When [the director] Hertzog listens to [some of] the audio of Treadwell and his girlfriend's last minutes, his reaction was so emotional. Do you think that moment goes BEYOND "Mondo"?

R.A.M.'67 said...

According to Wikipedia, WILD, WILD WORLD OF ANIMALS is the name of the show William Conrad narrated, so that's clarified!

venoms5 said...

Great follow up notes, Fang! I only vaguely remember these old shows from my childhood, but do remember the opening music.

I have yet to see GRIZZLY MAN, but may rent it this evening. I remember when it came out, but paid little attention to it. It sounds fascinating.

Yes, I would say the scene of Herzog listening to the footage (although the viewer cannot hear it, apparently?) goes beyond typical mondo conventions. There appears to have been some semblance of decency by not incorporating the audio (or even if the individual who owns it would have allowed such a thing).

Any other documentary/ shockumentary would have simply shot a simulated sequence and attempted to pass it off as the real deal. Similarly, the footage of Steve Irwin's tragic death was withheld from the public and that footage apparently was destroyed, despite many people wishing to see it.

Personally, I thought it would only be a matter of time before it surfaced on one of those Mondo/Faces of Death style "movies". The footage of Vic Morrow and two small children being killed on the set of TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE sneaking out, for example.

Also, a lot of people have no problem watching animals dying, being killed in their natural habitat. However, when it comes to these danger seekers spending months and years among carnivores, or poisonous creatures, these same individuals are not prepared for the moment where said nature travelers meet their doom at the hands (claws? fangs? stinger?) of the animals they possess a passion for.

I think (most of) these individuals are fully aware of the dangers involved and the possible consequences for putting their lives in harms way. I don't think animals have the capacity for murder, unlike humans. They only do what they do and what they've done for thousands of years.

R.A.M.'67 said...

Fortunately, the viewer only gets a hint of volume when Hertzog listens to part of the audio, and nothing more; it suggests what may be the worst of it for Treadwell and the lady. Not long after, the director has had enough. Hertzog did a extraordinary job putting together the documentary; miraculously, he used exploitive elements in a non-exploitive way!... On the flipside of this, while it's obvious Treadwell captured many wondrous moments on video, some have questioned why Animal Planet turned the footage into a [limited] series like they did.... If only in regards to the children killed during the making of the Landis segement of TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE, the footage should've been used for the court case only and destroyed sometime after it was all resolved. If all has gone according to plan, Irwin's family is lucky his last moments are gone from today's equivalents to P. T. Barnum: online video posters.... Actually, I started limiting my watching of nature programs after the day I saw the ANIMAL COPS: DETROIT episode where they dealt with a cat collector who had over 200 cats removed from a residence. All of them --even the kittens-- were feral in nature, so ALL had to be put down; from what I recall, not much happened to the collector, and I was disgusted. Since then, I've been VERY choosy about what I look at as a result; THE DOG WHISPERER is as safe as it gets on a [semi] regular basis!

Anonymous said...

I just saw an image of the cat from Men Behind the Sun and started bawling. I don't meant just as in right now, I mean that's all it took. I was reading this post considering whether or not to watch Mondo Cane, I guess it would make me something of a hypocrite to watch it as I abhor animal abuse in films, particularly of cats. Hmm..I mean, I dunno should I be hating myself for this?

venoms5 said...

No, not at all. I hate animal abuse, too, but it goes with these kinds of movies. Actually, it turns out that the cat scene in MEN BEHIND THE SUN was staged, according to the director. At least it's been widely publicized now that it wasn't real, but he did admit to securing real corpses for the movie. Thanks for stopping by, Yoshi.

Kaijinu said...

you know something weird: I read this post five years ago! I swear to Buddy Jesus, I took a few notes from this for a written project on Humanities, and I tackled animal cruelty on films after seeing the monkey scene from cannibal Holocaust and that disturbing turtle roast in Ferox.

I got to hand my gratitude to you, you gave me an A...just an A...turns out it's more vile than they were expecting...

venoms5 said...

Sorry for the late response, Kaijinu. I've only been around since September of 2009, but that touches me deeply that my article helped you out in some small way! Thanks for the kind words, buddy!

Shaomi said...

I just saw the shark and turtle scenes in Mondo Cane, which led me here when I tried to figure out what was real or not. After several watches, I've come to believe the whole thing is fake. First, this whole ridiculous shark story. The skulls and bones under water are obviously staged (conveniently all at the same stage of decay, and beautifully disposed). Then we have this whole beach filled with amputated people (the whole village, it appears, was eaten by sharks!) and dozens of shark fins scattered all over the sand (!). As if traditional, trained fishermen who'd be able to collect 50 shark fins a day would, at the same time, be so incapable that they'd keep being eaten alive while fishing! Absurd. Now let's look at the villagers: mostly, they are Asian looking people, then we suddenly see 2 Indians, including this very hindu lady with a bindi, who appears to be quite bored and unsure of what to do with her fishing gear (it's also quite unconvincing that a woman in a saree would go fish and get her leg eaten by a shark, in a culture where men are obviously the ones doing the fishing). The whole thing is totally unlikely for such a traditional community. Then comes the proper (disgusting) shark scenes. For one thing, people who'd be so desperate to sell shark fins to the Chinese to survive, and who would at the same time be so often amputated by their prey wouldn't waste such a precious resource at the risk of their own life, for some sort of absurd revenge over brainless animals. Besides, as stated in the article, the guys on the boat aren't even Asian at all: we have some black folks and even one very caucasioan dude!! Totally absurd. As for the sharks, a close observation makes me suspect they're just puppets. For one thing they are very much passive for an animal that's being captured and tortured. Then there is the third one (the one at night): while the first 2 were caught with some huge hooks, this one is conveniently lassoed (WTF?) with a mere rope, and once dumped in the water it simply sinks like dead weight. The whole sequence is clearly total BS, both the situation it claims to depict, and the things that are shown. In a way, this is good news because it's likely no sharks were harmed in this sequence. As for the turtle sequence, it appears to have been staged as well. It's also likely that the skeleton at the end is a fake (or at least not the same turtle). For all we see, the poor animal was just put on the beach, then turned on its back and hopefully eventually released back into the see (we don't actually see it die or being harmed). Certainly not a fun moment for the poor turtle in any case, and definitely unethical, but clearly staged and faked as well. And again, the narrative makes little sense: the whole part about birds living underground (!!) and the amphibian fishes living in the trees (!!) is also very likely to be utter "atomic age" nonsense (the poor birds are so passive that they're probably domesticated, and possibly mishandled as well, and the poor fishes get hit by sticks, that is if they're real at all). I wonder if the whole thing was even shot on the Bikini atoll, or on some Italian beach!! Now I haven't seen the other scenes and the other films in the Mondo series, and I know that many animals were harmed in many films and there certainly is no excuse for any of it. But if the 2 sequences above say anything about the official Cavara/Prosperi/Jacopetti Mondo film series, it's that a lot of its content was staged and/or faked. I find it quite unbelievable that, to this day and if I'm to believe what I found online, the films' content is still widely considered authentic. It's plain BS if you ask me.

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