Mondo cane

For the album by Mike Patton, see Mondo Cane (album).

Mondo cane
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Gualtiero Jacopetti Paolo Cavara Franco Prosperi
Produced by	Angelo Rizzoli
Written by	Gualtiero Jacopetti Paolo Cavara
Music by	Riz Ortolani Nino Oliviero
Cinematography	Antonio Climati Benito Frattari
Editing by	Gualtiero Jacopetti
Distributed by	Cineriz
Release date(s)	Italy: March 30, 1962 (1962-03-30) United States: April 3, 1963
Running time	108 minutes
Language	Italian

Mondo cane (1962; English: Dog World) is a documentary written and directed by Italian filmmakers Paolo Cavara, Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. The film consists of a series of travelogue vignettes that provide glimpses into cultural practices around the world with the intention to shock or surprise Western film audiences.^[1] These scenes are presented with little continuity, as they are intended as a kaleidoscopic display of shocking content rather than presenting a structured argument. Despite its claims of genuine documentation, certain scenes in the film are either staged or creatively manipulated in order to enhance this effect.^[2]

Mondo cane was an international box-office success and inspired the production of numerous, similar exploitation documentaries, many of which also include the word "Mondo" in their title. These films collectively came to be recognized as a distinct genre known as mondo films. In addition, the film's success led Jacopetti and Prosperi to produce several additional documentaries, including Mondo cane 2, Africa addio, and Addio zio Tom, while Cavara directed La donna nel mondo, Malamondo, as well as the anti-Mondo drama Wild Eye. Despite general critical condemnation of exploitation cinema, Mondo cane won the 1962 David di Donatello for best production and was also nominated for numerous other awards.

Synopsis

Production

In the beginning, as Cavara (who took the helm for European and Euro-Asiatic zone) and his supervisor Stanis Nievo' interviews revealed, Mondo Cane was a unique project conceived with La donna nel Mondo, and worked at the same time (1960-'62). ^[3]

Reception

Awards

Mondo cane was nominated for two awards for the 1962 film season. It won the David di Donatello for Best Production (Migliore Produzione) by the Accademia del Cinema Italiano,^[4] which it shared with Una vita difficile. It was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 15th Cannes Film Festival,^[5] which it lost to O Pagador de Promessas. The movie's theme song, "More", was written by Riz Ortolani and Nino Oliviero and was given new lyrics in English by Norman Newell. In 1963, the song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song, where it lost to "Call Me Irresponsible" from the film Papa's Delicate Condition.

Influence

The film spawned several direct sequels, starting with Jacopetti and Prosperi's own Mondo Cane 2 (also known as Mondo Pazzo), released the following year. Much later, in the eighties, two more sequels emerged: Mondo Cane Oggi: L'Orrore Continua and Mondo Cane 2000: L'Incredible.^[6] The franchise continued into the nineties with two sequels from the German Uwe Schier; despite the fact that they were the fifth and sixth films in the series, they were titled Mondo Cane IV and Mondo Cane V.^[7]

As well as encouraging sequels, Mondo Cane's shock-exploitation-documentary-exquisite corpse style is credited with starting a whole genre: the mondo film. Examples of mondo film include Mondo Bizarro, Mondo Daytona, Mondo Mod, Mondo Infame and Mondo Hollywood;^[8] later examples include the Faces of Death series.

The film also inspired lampooning, including Mr. Mike's Mondo Video, written by Saturday Night Live's Michael O'Donoghue and starring members of the contemporary cast of that program.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010 Mike Patton released a musical album in tribute to the film, also called Mondo Cane.

References

1. ^ Goodall pg. 22
2. ^ Kerekes pp. 113–114
3. ^ La donna nel mondo, in Wikipedia
4. ^ "Accademia del Cinema Italiano - Premi David di Donatello". Accademia del Cinema Italiano. http://www.daviddidonatello.it/cercafilmvincitori2.php?idfilm=332&vinfilm=mondo_cane. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
5. ^ "Festival de Cannes". Festival de Cannes. http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/1962/inCompetition.html. Retrieved 2010-04-26. 
6. ^ Kerekes & Slater, pp. 152-153.
7. ^ Kerekes & Slater, pp. 157-158.
8. ^ Kerekes & Slater, p. 107.

Bibliography

• Goodall, Mark. Sweet & Savage: The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens. London: Headpress, 2006.
• Kerekes, David, and David Slater. Killing for Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film from Mondo to Snuff. London: Creation Books, 1995.

External links

• Mondo Cane at the Internet Movie Database