Mondo Cane 2

"Mondo Cane 2" is little more than a quick cash-in on the first film's popularity. The giveaway is the fact that, although the film runs shorter than the original, it somehow contains less interesting footage. Some powerful sequences do exist (the tortured kids, the baby flamingos that die because their waters have been contaminated by a nearby factory), but on the whole the film is much inferior to the original, and the narration is often cheeky, hokey and annoying. (**)

MONDO CANE was an educational documentary featuring shocking scenes of human life and animal life. MONDO CANE 2 is just as educational and interesting, unlike the many imitators that erupted on video (i.e, FACES OF DEATH, etc.).

I can't really write a full-fledged review of the film, as it is just sequence after sequence. It's all interesting and you really learn things from the way it's presented. Some of my favorite scenes: the Parisian transvestite bar; a daring Mexican police shooting range; the Mexican Festival of the Dead (with skulls filled with cream, marzipan corpses, and live parasite tortillas); bugs turned into jewelry; Hawaiian tourists bathing in radioactive mud to freshen their skin; numerous religious fanatical acts in Italy and Portugal; rituals of pain in India; modeling sessions for gory pulp fiction book covers; smuggled footage of illegal slave trading in Africa; Sudanese tribes collecting dewdrops from plants because of a limited water supply; dancers wearing toilet paper being squirted with seltzer water; the Festival of Hard Heads in Italy (must be seen to be believed!); the artist Achille's paint-spitting party; a musical symphony enacted by slapping faces; Asian monks committing self-immolation; a heartbreaking sequence of pollution causing baby flamingos to mutate and die; and an African tribe becomes sterile because of their crocodile meat diet.

Amazing stuff throughout and never too boring, MONDO CANE 2 is lots of fun and will please those looking for something odd, intelligent, and something you can learn from.

For those who enjoyed the original ‘Mondo Cane', this is a less violent, more entertaining collection of sequences from around the world. Less focused on animals, we are treated to a birds' eye view of the crazy customs practiced on and by people. For those who haven't ever seen a ‘Mondo' film, please start with ‘Mondo Cane' and then come back and read this. ‘Mondo Cane 2' has some very shocking images; the most intense I felt was when we watched a Buddhist monk light himself on fire. Overall, however, the focus is on customs that to a foreign eye seem silly or ridiculous, not so much on these violent acts or situations. Filmmakers Jacopetti and Prosperi are masters at reporting truth much the same way a muckraker reports ‘truth', and simply by editing sequences together construct a convincing story that we humans are obsessed with pain and death. A great watch if you get the chance, and if you're really interested in these films there was a great box set released recently containing almost all of Jacopetti's work. It will probably be hard to find to rent, but keep an eye out if you're interested in documentaries as this is one of the best. Rating: 33/40

Mondo Cane 2 is on the same league as its predecessor. A lot of gory, shocking scenes and also some lighter and comic ones just to even things out. The commenting remains smart but some scenes start to seem rehearsed or directed. I think it's not so spontaneous and unprompted any more. Nevertheless there are some memorable moments, especially the maimed and crippled kids by their exploiters. Definitely for tough stomachs. I don't think it should be in Mondo Cane anyway, because this is not a ritual or something similar, it's just a criminal action.

Continuing where they left off, the filmakers begin at a dog shelter stating that the first "MONDO CANE" was banned in the UK because of its depiction of dogs. The joking opening aside this sequel had more interesting segments in it than the first, and there was probably a tad more violence in this one. I had an extremely difficult time obtaining this 2nd "MONDO", (I've seen the 1st at almost every video store *except Blockbuster), so if you run across it make sure you pick it up.