Africa addio (1966)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Directors:

Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Writers:

Gualtiero Jacopetti (writer)
Franco Prosperi (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 1966 (Italy)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

You May LOVE It! You May HATE It! But You'll Not FORGET It!

Plot:

The second official sequel to the original shockumentary, displaying cruel acts of animal poaching and violence, executions, and tribal slaughtering, all taking place on the African continent.

Plot Keywords:

Execution | Mau Mau | Shockumentary | Mondo | Exploitation

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Sergio Rossi	...	Narrator (voice)
Gualtiero Jacopetti	...	Himself (uncredited)
Ian Yule	...	Mercenary (uncredited)

Directed by
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gualtiero Jacopetti		writer
Franco Prosperi		writer

Produced by
Angelo Rizzoli	....	producer

Original Music by
Riz Ortolani

Cinematography by
Antonio Climati

Film Editing by
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Franco Prosperi

Production Management
Stanis Nievo	....	production manager (as Stanislao Nievo)

Sound Department
Fausto Ancillai	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
Tonino Cacciottolo	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Federico Abussi	....	assistant camera
Ugo Valenti	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Maria Gianandrea	....	assistant editor
Clara Mattei	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Paolo Ketoff	....	technical supervisor

Production Companies

• Cineriz

Distributors

• Rizzoli (1967) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Cinemation Industries (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release) (dubbed)
• Blue Underground (2003) (USA) (DVD) (director's cut) (English version)
• Intermedia Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Intermedia Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Shockwave Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Woodhaven Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Woodhaven Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Adios Africa (USA)
Africa Blood and Guts (USA) (cut version)
Africaddio (Italy) (DVD box title)
Farewell Africa (UK) (video title)

Runtime:

140 min | Sweden:116 min | USA:83 min (1970 release) | USA:122 min | Norway:124 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:16 | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | West Germany:18 (heavily cut) (video premiere) | Finland:(Banned) (1967) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating: 1968) (cut) | USA:R | UK:X (heavily cut) | Italy:VM18 | Italy:VM14 (DVD) | Australia:R | Sweden:15

Company:

Cineriz

Trivia:

Despite having almost half of the original material removed, the English print under the title Africa Blood and Guts is noted as being more gruesome than the original, uncut print, as any scenes of pleasantness or history have been removed, leaving only the most violent and disturbing footage untouched.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Godfathers of Mondo (2003) (V)

Africa Blood and Guts ... and a tribe of rock and rollers???

AFRICA ADDIO, more commonly known as AFRICA-BLOOD AND GUTS (so named by infamous exploitation distributor Jerry Gross), is undeniably masterful at holding one's attention. But it makes the sleaze and sensationalism of MONDO CANE seem like something produced by Walt Disney.

This movie is insane. It switches randomly from horrifying to absurd to educational to beautiful to creepy to disturbing to ... well, you get the idea.

Pumped up relentlessly by it's makers to be a serious, unbiased look at the political and social upheaval occurring in Africa during the late sixties, the movie is about as far from that as you can imagine. So many scenes are obviously fabricated outright or manipulated by the filmmakers, it's difficult to tell what's real and what's staged. In a way, however, this makes the movie even more fascinating, though more for the shameless exploits of the filmmakers than the subject matter.

There are such ridiculous scenes as a tribe of African natives emerging from their tents to play a bluesy rock song, complete with a horn section and funky piano and a scene in which African women get dressed up in "civilized" attire. These are juxtaposed with scenes of executions and rioting, footage of mass graves and poachers at work. The accusation that the filmmakers actually incited much of the violence displayed onscreen is difficult to discount completely.

Once again, there's plenty of live animal slaughter (an elephant being speared to death is nearly impossible to sit through unflinchingly), much of which is perpetrated by so-called "hunters", who have the nerve to act proud at having shot an elephant to death, after it's already been exhausted by a helicopter taunting it.

The whole movie makes you furious at the treatment of the people of the country, having their land invaded by outsiders who force them to conform to their own customs, and works (perhaps unintentionally) as a very disturbing parallel to the white settlers treatment of the Native Americans centuries ago.

Recently released as part of a MONDO box set by Blue Underground, which contains both the uncut English version, as well as the much more violent "Director's Cut." The director's version contains the infamous sequence in which a hippopotamus is speared to death.

Recommended for MONDO fans. Others will probably be too disgusted to get through more than a few minutes of it. The making of this movie was an inspiration of Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.