Cover Art

Credits

Director: Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosper, David Gregory Starring: Sergio Rossi, Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi Tagline: "Searing! Shocking! Savage!" Country: Italy/USA Year: 1966/1971/2003

First up is Africa Addio, Jacopetti and Prosperi's follow-up to one of their lesser-received docos Women of the World. Jacopetti and Prosperi worked on Africa Addio for three years, risking life and limb to document a continent in crisis, in which certain nations were undergoing a transitional period from colonial rule to independence. The film begins as a run-of-the-mill Discovery Channel documentary – we are shown general African culture and the occasional scene of tame fighting and brawling, all very par-for-the-course. However, as the picture progresses, it morphs into something increasingly nasty. The real turning point of the film is when we arrive at a game reserve, where two jeeps joined by a rope drive parallel through a herd of zebra in order to catch the animals for their skins and meat. It's cruel and nauseating, but it's only the start – we are told that all animal sanctuaries have been dismantled, with poachers free to hunt in what was once sacred territory. Cue a number of incredibly graphic set-pieces of animal cruelty, the most devastating of which concerns a pregnant hippopotamus, shot and flayed to reveal her unborn young.

We move away from animals and towards human conflict, and it is these scenes in the film's final fifteen minutes that generated the most controversy. While traveling through a war-torn African town, the filmmakers' car is smashed by soldiers, they are hauled out and are literally seconds away from execution before it is revealed that, 'they aren't white…they're Italian!' Jacopetti and Prosperi then take us into the ugly world of the mercenary, and a group of Anglo-ex-pats launch an attack on an African village. It's difficult to ascertain what is real and what is not in these scenes; the juxtaposition of real-life animal cruelty with these scenes of violence gives them a dubious quality, although Jacopetti, cinematographer Antonio Climati and production manager Stanis Nievo were put on trial for organising the murder of African natives. They were acquitted, narrowly avoiding a charge that would make them international war criminals, however it is still rumoured that the mercenaries postponed the invasion for twenty-four hours at the filmmaker's request.

As disgusting and morally corrupt as the content is, there's no doubt that Africa Addio is the work of two master filmmakers at the top of their game. It's blunt, direct and adopts an uncomfortably macabre quality, but the sensational direction, editing and cinematography by future mondo director Climati, as well as Riz Ortolani's fantastic score, makes this one of the finest documentaries in cinema history.

It should be noted that there are a number of releases of this film, the most butchered being Africa Blood and Guts, which removes all political content of the film and markets it as a blatant exploitation picture. A director's cut is also available.

The final film in the collection, The Godfathers of Mondo, is directed by David Gregory, who helmed a number of similar film docos including the Texas Chain Saw Massacre retrospect The Shocking Truth. Gregory's documentary is an excellent addition to the collection and gives voice to two of the most controversial and reviled filmmakers of all time. The doco comprehensively covers the careers of Jacopetti and Prosperi chronologically through in-depth interviews with the men themselves, as well as composer Riz Ortolani, cinematographer Benito Frattari and film critics David Flint and David Kerekes. Candid and insightful, this is definitely the definitive source on the Jacopetti/Prosperi mondo films. A fitting finale to a wonderful set.

The biggest criticism Jacopetti and Prosperi received from their mondo films, aside from the murder controversy of Africa Addio, were allegations of racism. Roger Ebert wrote in his 1967 review of Africa Addio that the film was 'brutal, dishonest and racist'; and Pauline Kael described Goodbye Uncle Tom as being 'the most rabid incitement of the race war'. These attitudes have become synonymous with these films, and mondo pictures in general. However, it seems to me that no judgement is passed – or at least not as much as the aforementioned reviewers describe. Both films tackle difficult subject matter using techniques that could certainly be considered unorthodox and un-PC. While Africa Addio may position the viewer to somewhat doubt the efficiency of a black-governed continent, Goodbye Uncle Tom is overtly against the slave trade and glorifies not one shred of racism. As the old adage suggests, 'don't shoot the messenger' – while both films depict racist people, they certainly haven't been made by racist people, regardless of how questionable the content may be.

Goodbye Uncle Tom offers a theatrical trailer, a poster and still gallery, as well as an additional gallery of photos from second assistant director and production manager Giampaulo Lomi. It also showcases fifty minutes of behind-the-scenes footage shot on 8mm, with an audio commentary by Lomi.

These films were previousy released by Blue Underground in the 'Mondo Cane box set', along with the films contained in the Shockumentaries Volume 1 (containing Mondo Cane, Mondo Cane 2 and Women of the World) and Shockumentary Extreme Edition (containing the director's cuts of Africa Addio and Goodbye Uncle Tom) box sets, however, there is quite a difference in price, and buying the three seperate collections individually actually works out to be far cheaper than buying the box itself.