Product Details

• Actors: Stefano Sibaldi, Rossano Brazzi
• Directors: Franco Prosperi, Paolo Cavara, Gualtiero Jacopetti
• Format: Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Woodhaven Ent
• VHS Release Date: March 21, 2000
• Run Time: 92 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305522758
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,512 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Item Name: Mondo Cane; Studio: Woodhaven Ent

The New York Times

"Bizarre, Reflective And Shockingly Candid!"

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Apparently, "It's a Dog's World" ("More" or Less), September 13, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Mondo Cane 1 / Shockumentary [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Mondo Cane" ("It's a Dog's World") might not have been the first shockumentary, but this 1962 film is the first such film to get a wide viewing. I cannot believe they actually showed this to us in high school (WHAT were they thinking?). Then again, I have to admit I have never forgotten the sight of a guy with a sword cutting off a bull's head with one swing or the bugs prepared for dinner.

The film offers an initial disclaimer that says, in part, "the duty of the chronicler is not to sweeten the truth but to report it objectively". Of course, this is the justification for this fascinating and repulsive look at outrageous things around the world. Writer and co-director Gualtiero Jacopetti travels back and forth around the world between the so-called civilized and primitive worlds, creating all sorts of ironic frames of meaning (aided and abetted by thinly veiled sarcastic narration). In Rome chicks are dye bright colors for Easter eggs while a tribe out in the jungles waits five years to slaughter a hundred pigs and have a big feast. Of course, there are better examples, but it seems kind of pointless to spoil the fun by telling you the best shocks in a film that was considered the "most argued about film" on earth when it was first released in 1963.

This 107-minute Italian film is in French, with English subtitles, and was helped with its legitimacy by the fact its theme song "More" was nominated for an Oscar. On the one hand it is relatively tame given what we see in movies today, but then it does have the virtue of being documentary fact rather than special effects fiction. Still, I have to believe that "Mondo Cane" will be of more interest to those on whom it made an impression way back when, rather than winning new generations of viewers. But remember, sooner or later, this film will make you drop your jaw at something. You were warned.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Multi Cultures Explored, February 5, 2000

By 

Joe Moffa (Sacramento, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mondo Cane 1 / Shockumentary [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I saw this movie when it was first released in 1962. I was 17 years old at the time, and I must say it left a strong impression on me. I found the movie at the time to be original and disburbing for a youth of 17 years. I did not know of all the bizarre events that took place around the world. It opened my eyes to cultures different than mine. I found it to be educational and mind expanding. I would recommend it for anyone over the age of 14 years. Another plus to the movie is the title song "More", which was a big hit at the time. If you want reality, and want to learn about other cultures and their practices this is your movie. Have fun and enjoy.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars " Enter at your own risk, the world of the forbidden. ", January 30, 2009

By 

Jason Troy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mondo Cane (DVD)

This planet which many humans believe is theirs, has so many mysterious aspects that when a cinematic camera and lights are turned on it, are illuminated like the elusive creatures of the night. A world traveler may go seeking the strange, the unusual, the bizarre and occasionally the forbidden and often find much more than he bargained for. That is what the film "Mondo Cane" is all about. It is a black collection of the many unusual parts of our strange world. The film travels around the globe seeking out the odd customs of various people and offers them up as interesting fare to the ambivalent traveler, the timidly interested and the curiously morbid. In each country visited, we find that what one nation finds disgusting, another finds tolerable. One nation offers up unusual human sexual practices, which another country often finds offensive, tasteless and guttural. Animals in one country are revered, honored and treated as royalty. Yet in a neighboring nation, these same beasts are prepared as special delicacies fit for consumption. Women, boys and pain seeking parishioners are accepted as sacrificial fodder. Viewers are treated to the world's most primitive customs and often as not we see ourselves at the very depth of depravity and learn it is not polite to stare, which we do anyway. A frightening movie, but one which reveals much about us than we care to know. Still, one cannot turn away without wanting to see 'MORE' which happens to be the Theme Song of this same picture. ****