01/02/2022
JACK UNEARTHS #2
SAVAGE MAN SAVAGE BEAST
1975. Italy. Directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra.
SYNOPSIS
The beginning in earnest of the second wave of the Italian Mondo cinema cycle. Savage Man Savage Beast presents itself as a philosophical and unflinching exploration of the practise of hunting and its significance in the relationship between animals, humans and between man and beast. Animals hunting each other in their quest for survival. Man hunting animals for food and recreation. Animals hunting humans and ultimately man hunting and killing his fellow man.
THOUGHTS...
Arguably among the most dubious and strange of all the Spaghetti exploitation subgenre's, the Italian "Mondo" film would achieve both commercial popularity and critical revulsion in equal measure during the sixties. This was undoubtedly spurred on by the unexpected success of Mondo Cane (1962), directed by the subgenre's flag bearer's, the ethically questionable yet undeniably talented filmmaking duo of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi. Usually taking the form of wild globetrotting travelogues, the Mondo film would - for a time - hit upon a popular and lucrative exploitation formula. In an age before the 24 hour news media and the Internet, these pictures would attract audiences with the offer of sensationalistic material that the conventional television documentary and news outlets would and often could not show and usually placed an emphasis on the salacious and shocking. Strange foreign customs and sexual practises and often an emphasis on violence towards and between both animals and people.
The Mondo cycle would largely burn itself out by the close of the sixties, but would experience a second wind during the mid seventies largely thanks to Savage Man Savage Beast, directed by the aforementioned Jacopetti and Prosperi's former cinematographer Antonio Climati and his filmmaking partner Mario Morra. Upping the ante significantly upon its fore bearers in terms of its violent and gruesome content, Savage Man Savage Beast would be well received by thrill seeking audiences both domestically and internationally. The film would experience a successful run in the notorious Grindhouse cinema's of New York City's Times Square, was commercially successful in the Far East and even received a theatrical release here in the United Kingdom, albeit in a heavily censored form. James Ferman, the then director of the British Board of Film Classification, would even use uncut excerpts from Savage Man Savage Beast at the boards public road show events to gaslight journalists and industry figures into supporting his perceived need for increased censorial control. Following the success of Savage Man Savage Beast, the Italian Mondo cycle would experience something of a spasmodic revival with Climati and Morra and their rival filmmaking duo the brothers Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni delivering a trickle of increasingly unpleasant Mondo films over the course of the next decade to an ever diminishing audience. The Italian Mondo subgenre's second run would eventually reach its nadir with the Castiglioni's Shocking Africa (Africa dolce e Selvaggia) (1982) . One of the most irredeemably repulsive motion pictures this writer has ever had the misfortune of sitting through, Shocking Africa's exploration of African tribal customs would serve as little more than en excuse to serve up unflinchingly revolting scenes of male and female ge***al mutilation. With this film, the Italian Mondo picture would end with a squalid whimper.
At any rate I digress, despite its relative success in its time, Savage Man Savage Beast has perhaps undeservedly lapsed into relative obscurity during the last few decade's. Viewed now Climati and Morra's film still holds up as a fascinating and sometimes shocking, albeit slightly antiquated work. In an age where those so inclined can easily view horrific Mexican drug cartel murders online, the approach of a film such as this could easily feel dated and perhaps rather quaint. Indeed, Savage Man Savage Beast does occasionally feel like something of a chore to watch for the less patient viewer, with its seemingly endless scenes of monkeys scampering through trees to the accompaniment of novelist Alberto Moravia's rather pompous and high-minded narration. However, the underlying theme of hunting and its place in interspecies and interpersonal human relationships is nothing if not consistent and the film is certainly beautifully shot throughout. A quality enhanced by the accompaniment of a sweeping and lyrical score. However, the degree of infamy the film retains today rests almost squarely upon the presence of two extended, cleverly faked, yet nevertheless disturbing sequences of human mutilation and death. In the first of these a foolhardy white tourist in an African game reserve leaves the safety of his vehicle to film lions and is summarily pounced upon, killed and partially devoured while his family looks on helplessly. Then towards the end of the film we are treated to alleged footage of South American mercenaries shooting, castrating, scalping and dismembering several native tribes people. The act of castration is depicted in unflinching detail and the mercenaries are shown posing proudly with their trophies of decapitated heads and various body parts. Although clearly fabricated, the dispassionate and matter of fact way these two scenes are incorporated into the film still possesses a jarring, disturbing quality well capable of shaking even the more jaded viewer. The aforementioned lion sequence still remains something of a minor viral Internet sensation to this day on video sharing platforms and has still been known to hoodwink those unaware of its original cinematic context. It is also worth noting that the clearly deliberate, shaky amateur shot aesthetic of these sequences bears more than a passing stylistic resemblance to the subsequent "found footage" atrocities of Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust and it is not a stretch or a slight upon Deodato to suggest that the similarity is perhaps not entirely coincidental. So despite its occasional dryness and arguable pretension, for those wishing to dip a toe into the strange and dubious world of Italian Mondo cinema, or witness the evolution of said genre into the modern "shockumentary", Savage Man Savage Beast remains a quintessential viewing experience.
Although there are several DVD releases of the film internationally, as far as I can ascertain, all are derived from the heavily cut version of the film which was released on VHS in Australia during the eighties. As the sobering impact of the aforementioned staged "shock" sequences are essentially the films purpose, these releases are best to be avoided.
