MovieChat Forums > Africa addio (1966) Discussion > Why is there such a small viewing group?

Why is there such a small viewing group?

posted 20 years ago by flamingzombieunicorn
20 replies | jump to latest

This movie needs to be re-released or maybe even sold on its own, and not part of the 100$ box set. Don’t get me wrong all the documentaries that were released by blue underground were good and I did buy the box set. But not many people have the money or really the will to buy so many movies on a single medium. Which I do understand that, but it really is a shame that only a select few have seen this movie because it is one of the best, documentary that I have seen. It also really helped in putting perspective the problems that Africa post colonization. I took a full course on Africa in issues and answers (a full semester) and really this movie summed it up best, it is a great film for any one wanting to see the troubles and even just the odd of the vast world that really we don’t see anymore.

[–] stefanrops 20 years ago

Why is there such a small viewing group?

Because only sick people are going to watch something like this. Clear?

[–] mondoholocaust 20 years ago

too bad you weren't intelligent enough to get anything from this film because its a masterpiece.

[–] spittle8 15 years ago

Have you even *beep* watched it? It's not even that gory, the sickness lies in its reality, and if you can't handle a little reality, then *beep* off and don't offer your opinion in a public forum again you pussy.

And let us be clear: Africa Blood and Guts is not Africa Addio. The latter is a masterpiece of documentary social commentary and the former is just snuff.

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised."

[–] Youkai68 20 years ago

I think it's a real shame that Jacopetti and Prosperi's films are so obscure in this day and age, this amazing film in particular.

Wakey, wakey! Eggs and bakey!

[–] el_ajmed 20 years ago

This type of films made generally to shock people and show the "other people" being worse and out of control.

This documentary is so sick, even the narrator is quite disturbed he seems to enjoy every sceen that he is narrating with the scripts in his hands.

And the movie favors the Apartheid politics in South Africa at that time.

And i really wonder who was behind making these kind of films,who supported them with money?
Italian fascists?

But these kind of films are fascinating it shows how some "underground snobs" really thought about the policy in Africa.
So if you want to see the movie then get ready to press the fast forward button during the so disturbing animal violence and hunting.
And don't believe everything in that movie remember this was made in the early sixties, the "imperial thinking" is not a suprise.

[–] mondoholocaust 20 years ago

its too bad there are so many ignorant people out there who completely miss the point of this film. oh well i probably hate the vomit you put in your dvd players.

[–] el_ajmed 20 years ago

Ok can you please explain us "ignorant" people what this piece trash is about?

[–] clockworkorange13 19 years ago

i loved this movie. it was incredible.
it was raw and brutal, just he way i like it.

hey el ajmed....this movie was MEANT to shock and horrify, dont forget that.

"Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets."

[–] dawndeadromero 18 years ago

I have many reasons as to why people enjoy 'trash' films such as these.

I am a fan of the Horror/Exploitation and Mondo genres. I enjoy Mondo films because I am unafraid of the horrors of our world. I do not wish to remain ignorant to death, disease, famine, war, human suffering, barbaric acts, and the "strange" happenings in other, "less civilized" parts of the world. I choose not to be sheltered. I'd like to see as many films as I can, even though they may be harsh, graphic, terrible, unrelenting showcases of REAL and horrendous things. This is why I do not have a problem with viewing films which document REAL death.

Anyone, such as myself, with a morbid curiosity of such things, I do not consider sick. What may shock and offend one may spark many levels of interest in others. You must bear this in mind when you talk of "Mondo" films. I have never seen Africa Addio, but I do have a copy of Of The Dead and Mondo Magic sitting on my shelf. Am I just some sick, small-minded pervert who derives pleasure from viewing barbaric acts and documentations of death as 'entertainment'? No. I look at "Mondo" films, exploitive as some may be, as an intellectual excersize in testing the limits of what your mind can stand. A rape of the senses. A journey into a world full of atrocities that your "average joe" has not begun to fathom.

I've proved to many that I am an intelligent individual, so I dont appreciate the generalizations some make about people who watch these kinds of films. I am a prime example of people who enjoy the Horror/Exploitation/Mondo genres and are intelligent at the same time. Ever hear of a man named David Cronenburg? Yes, Horror can be cerebral.

[–] cheoelfeo 15 years ago

clockwork and taxi driver are my favs.

[–] jackfrusciante80 15 years ago

Tenletters said it well, this movie is racist. I watched it about a month ago, and I can sense the racism of the narrator was well as that of the producers.

With that said, I can see past that and take out what I can from it. I can see past the racism, I am 28 and can make a judgment on my own. This movie unfortunately did not provide enough historical background and facts, just as it did animal cruelty and beautiful scenes.

Had it been more evenly handed, I think it would've been recognized by the masses as an informative, yet horrifying testament of what people are capable of doing.

I bought the dvd for $15 by the way, Blueunderground is selling the movies separately.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] wholovestroma 18 years ago

See, this film could've been worse. It could've went through without any educational basis to it, like TRACES OF DEATH. But no, this is a documentary on the fall of Traditonal Africa, and how the whites took over and pretty much screwed things up. That's all there really is to it, and it's a must see film of the MONDO CANE box set.

Like I said, it could've been worse, oh so much worse..........

[–] chris-2512 18 years ago

I disagree that this movie is racist. I think it's very ethnocentric, but it's just as damning of the Portugeuse, English and French colonial forces, white poachers, and white skinned mercenaries as it is the Hutu militias or Angolese warlords. I bet half the people who thought this movie was racist couldn't find Liberia or DRC on a map.

[–] timbliz 18 years ago

It is now sold at Best Buy for $14.99 in the boxed set entitled "Searing! Shocking! Savage! - Shockumentaries Vol.2" which contains;

Africa Addio - Engish version 128min

Goodbye Uncle Tom - English version 123min

The Godfathers Of Mondo - Italian w/Eng. sub. 90min

Excellent Deal!!
Also available for $14.99 is:

"Films That Rip The Mask From The World - Shockumentaries Vol.1"
Which contains:

Mondo Cane - English version 108min

Mondo Cane 2 - English version 95min

Women Of The World - English version 107min

So you may not get the alternate versions of Goodbye Uncle Tom and Africa Addio but for $29.98 (payable in two installments!!) it cannot be beat!
Blue Underground Rules! (although they also put out the aforementioned $100 boxed set!).
"I know I will kill someday" Crazy Bee

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] HSauer 17 years ago

I think the American versions in the $15 box set ARE the original cuts. The "Director's Cuts" of AFRICA ADDIO and GOODBYE UNCLE TOM don't seem to have actually played in theaters, at least not in America. Both are larded with dull documentary material and both are MISSING inflammatory "re-enactments" included in the American versions.

[–] TenLetters 16 years ago

i think is movie is extremely racist, but is an interesting historical piece (if extremely graphic, and as already said racist as all)

[–] cheoelfeo 15 years ago

because its not good.cannibal holocaust #1

A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

[–] 15 years ago

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