Mondo di Notte – Welt ohne Scham (1963)

Mondo di Notte – Welt ohne Scham: Directed by Gianni Proia. With George Sanders, Alexander, Maria Ansaldi, Laura Betti. A documentary highlighting some of the oddest, strangest and more grotesque examples of human behavior. Included are a tour of the Grand Guignol theater in Paris, a man who sticks long needles through his body, footage of reindeer being castrated, and more footage of lesbians and strippers.

“Before TV and video bringing us the strangeness of the world there was the travel film which brought the sites into local theaters. Then in the 1960u0026#39;s we had the travel film spawn the Mondo movie where all of the weird things in the world were brought to your local theater. Most of the films were an odd mix of real and staged events (many mid-cycle films were all staged). Most have dry witty or pithy commentary by a well known star.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe films were mostly of the sort of thing where u0026quot;if youu0026#39;ve seen one youu0026#39;ve seen them allu0026quot;. Ecco rises some how above the standard rut of the Mondo movies. Yes, there are things to turn your stomach and others to make you question if its real or not, as all of these films do, but Ecco has one thing the others donu0026#39;t and that is George Saunders doing the narration. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSaunders was a master of dry wit and his delivery works wonders with the material. In all of the other mondo movies you remember the momentary bits that shocked you, but here you remember Saunders voice, with his inflections revealing infinitely more than the words do. You want to hear his narration which seems to rise above the material.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor the life of me I couldnu0026#39;t tell you one thing that happens in this movie, but I remember the voice. Its the voice that makes me want to watch this every now and again while almost every other mondo movie Iu0026#39;ve seen could disappear and I wouldnu0026#39;t care.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you must see one mondo movie in your life see this one. If you want to see one that doesnu0026#39;t suck see this one.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e8 out of 10.”