Sweet & Savage: The World Through The Shockumentary Film Lens (2006)

Sweet & Savage: The World Through The Shockumentary Film Lens (2006)

Sweet & Savage is the first-ever English-language book devoted exclusively to the mondo documentary film. A study of mondo as a global film phenomenon, it includes a detailed examination of the key films and includes exclusive interviews with the godfathers of this cult genre.
The book is a precise study of the genre. It examines how the shockumentary relates to the classic documentary, exploitation and arthouse film. Often ridiculed by traditional documentary filmmakers and critized for the use of faked material and staged sequences the mondo film nonetheless shares aspects of the documentary film.
Another interesting aspect is the relation between arthouse film and mondo. While mondo films routinely mock modern art (evidenced e.g. in a sequence in MONDO CANE, where famous artist Yves KLEIN is derided for using naked women as “brushs” for painting), the frequent use of a stream of consciousness (anti)narrative or juxtaposing images indicate that the mondo genre is not averse of using arthouse techniques.

I also found the chapter regarding animals in mondo films particularly interesting. One of the more unpleasant aspects of the shockumentary is the frequent depiction of animal cruelty, regularly as social metaphor (c.f. “dog world” ), but more often than not as a cheap shock effect.

A wide variety of mondo films are reviewed in detail, ranging from the JACOPETTI/PROSPERI directed classics (MONDO CANE, LA DONNE NEL MONDO, AFRICA ADDIO, GOODBYE UNCLE TOM and MONDO CANDIDO) to the Italian imitations of the 1960ies (like I MALAMONDO and GO! GO! GO! WORLD), cheap US imitations (MONDO FREUDO), the gruesome, but beautifully photographed films directed by Antonio CLIMATI and Mario MORRA with their emphasis on animal suffering (like SAVAGE MAN, SAVAGE BEAST) and parodies (MR. MIKE’S MONDO VIDEO). It goes without saying that FACES OF DEATH is reviewed as well.

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