''Dolce e selvaggio'' (1983) ( en, Sweet and Savage) is a

Mondo film Mondo films are a subgenre of exploitation films and documentary films. Many mondo films are made in a way to resemble a pseudo-documentary and usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, or situations. Common traits of mondo films include por ...

directed by

Antonio Climati Antonio Climati (November 14, 1931 – August 9, 2015) was an Italian cinematographer, filmmaker and film editor. He was best known for photographing and directing many mondo films during the 1970s and 1980s, as well as for having worked as a dir ...

and

Mario Morra Mario Morra (born 1935) is an Italian film editor, director and screenwriter. Born in Rome, Morra began working as an assistant editor in the early 1960s, and made his debut as film editor in 1964.Roberto Poppi. ''Dizionario del cinema italiano. ...

. The title "Sweet and Savage" refers to the juxtaposition of pleasant ("sweet") and violent ("savage") imagery within the film.Goodall p. 120Kerekes p. 147 It is narrated by the producer and long-time Mondo film director Franco Prosperi. The film is the third and final entry in Climati and Morra's Savage Trilogy and is also the last collaborative feature between the two directors. Footage in the film was supplemented by scenes that originally appeared in their previous two films, ''

Ultime grida dalla savana ''Ultime grida dalla savana'' (), also known as by its English title ''Savage Man Savage Beast'', is a 1975 mondo documentary film co-produced, co-written, co-edited and co-directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra. Filmed all around the world ...

'' and ''

Savana violenta ''Savana violenta'' ( en, Violent Savanna), also known as ''This Violent World'' and ''Mondo Violence'', is a 1976 mondo film directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra. The film documents various scenes of graphic behavior in an attempted expo ...

''. Morra went on to direct one final Mondo film, ''The Savage Zone'', while Climati later made the

cannibal film Cannibal films, alternatively known as the cannibal genre or the cannibal boom, are a subgenre of horror films made predominantly by Italian filmmakers during the 1970s and 1980s. This subgenre is a collection of graphically violent movies that u ...

Natura contro ''Natura contro'' (English: ''Against Nature''), also known in English as ''The Green Inferno'' and ''Cannibal Holocaust II'', is a 1988 Italian cannibal adventure film directed by Antonio Climati. Climati had no intention of making a sequel to ...

'' in 1988. The film has gained notoriety for the inclusion of several scenes of human death. One of the scenes, in which a man is tied to two trucks that tear off his arm, is staged.Kerekes p. 149 The other scenes, which are genuine, include a corpse in Tibet that is hacked apart by monks and fed to vultures and the accidental deaths of

tightrope walker Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...

Karl Wallenda Karl Wallenda (; January 21, 1905 – March 22, 1978) was a German-American high wire artist and founder of The Flying Wallendas, a daredevil circus act which performed dangerous stunts, often without a safety net. Personal life Wallenda was bo ...

and

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

A.J. Bakunas.

Release history

''Dolce e selvaggio'' was originally released on 2 September 1985 in Italy and was later released internationally the following year. The film was released as ''Caramba!'' in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and focused heavily on the staged death scene in its advertisements. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the film was released uncut theatrically in 1984, but an edited video release submitted to the Australian censors was banned for excessive violence. Although the film was rated M and R18+ for three different submissions in 1986, it was only ever released once on video by

Roadshow Roadshow theatrical release is a practice in which a film opened in a limited number of theaters in large cities. Road show or Road Show may also refer to: *''Antiques Roadshow'', a BBC TV series where antiques specialist travel around the country ...

's Premiere video label in 1987.

References

Bibliography

*Goodall, Mark. ''Sweet & Savage: The World Through the Shockumentary Film Lens''. London: Headpress, 2006. *Kerekes, David, and David Slater. ''Killing for Culture: An Illustrated History of Death Film from Mondo to Snuff''. London: Creation Books, 1995.

External links

* * {{AllMovie title, 198239 1983 films 1980s Italian films 1980s Italian-language films Italian documentary films Italian horror films Italian splatter films Mondo films