Gualtiero Jacopetti Movies

Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco E. Prosperi, best-known for the groundbreaking shockumentary Mondo Cane, directed this bizarre and shocking look at slavery in America. Set in the deep South prior to the Civil War, Zio Tom finds Jacopetti and Prosperi travelling back in time aboard a helicopter to investigate the nuts and bolts of slavery as it happened in the United States prior to abolition. Along the way, the filmmakers go aboard a slave ship as frightened Africans are brought to America under inhuman conditions; they witness the dangerous and degrading process by which slaves were made ready for market; and they visit a "breeding farm" for slaves after laws prohibit the importation of slaves from abroad. Also included is a sermon from a preacher who argues for the moral and spiritual necessity of slavery (while another man speaks out against it strictly on grounds of economics and practicality); the contrasting thoughts of men and women on the matter of miscegenation; and an interview with an educated slave who feels his circumstances are better for him than conventional employment. Also shown is the brutal torture and punishment of slaves for any number of real or imagined grievances. Re-creating both the opulence and the ugliness of the Old South on a grand scale, Zio Tom concludes with present-day African-Americans reading The Confession of Nat Turner and contemplating violent overthrow of the white-dominated culture. Understandably controversial, Zio Tom received a very brief theatrical release in the United States under the title Farewell Uncle Tom, where it received an X rating from the MPAA despite being trimmed by approximately 20 minutes from its original Italian running time. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A three-year documentary odyssey through the bloody social upheaval of 1960s Africa, this film from the directors of Mondo Cane is just as unflinching as its predecessor in its visual catalogue of atrocities but has some substance to back it up. Topics include the violent civil war in the Congo, the final days of colonial rule in Kenya, revolutions in Zanzibar and Angola, racial strife in Dar es Salaam, the Bahuti slaughter of the Rwandan Watusi, and the mass extermination of thousands of animals in game enclaves. The considerable political content was greatly reduced when exploitation maven Jerry Gross released the film in America several years later as Africa, Blood and Guts, a version running almost an hour shorter than the original and emphasizing gore over historical perspective; to make things really confusing, the 2008 DVD reissue contains the original 138-minut version but was slapped with the title of the re-edit. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Director Gualtiero Jacopetti and his "mondo" films started an entire category of degrading shockumentaries which deal with topics like cannibalism, animal torture and killing, sexual oddities, and all manner of animalistic, brutal behavior in human culture. La Donna nel Mondo is one in this series which tended to go from bad to worse. This is anything but an anthropological, sympathetic overview of women in world cultures but more a voyeuristic tour at what might seem to be the most shocking scenes to a Eurocentric audience. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

An entertaining, clever, amusing, and exciting variety show, Europa di Notte features a witty narration and the talents of performers from a wide range of fields. Among the most known to American audiences are Domenico Modugno and The Platters but judging by the quality of the acts, every other performer deserves equal recognition. Carmen Sevilla does an impressive dance routine, and magicians like Channing Pollock and others provide plenty of entrancing illusions. Then there are the guys from the Parisian Crazy Horse Saloon, who take almost all of it off but clothe the entire act in enough humor to pass muster with most audiences. Other dancers and singers, including the Ukrainian Chorus make this armchair tour of European nitery worthwhile. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi