Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

dutchbeats Quite the conundrum, 80% of the comments focus only on the violence, which is extreme and relentless at times. It should also be noted that the film clocks in at 2 hours and 20 minutes, and, there is a whole other world being presented when the violence stops. Quite simply, the cinematography will knock your socks off; we're talking major motion picture stuff with an original score that keeps evolving and is quite breathtaking(i still haven't seen this on a big screen but, wow). Speaking of breathtaking, visually this film is a feast for the eyes, it's hard to believe at times that i'm watching a documentary; a documentary that will open you up and get inside you and everyone that sees it, with no pun intended and no shame. As someone else said here, it is 'an uneasy time capsule'. The brutality, perfectly balanced with tender and profound beauty. Real situations balanced with oddity and humor.I mean, the directors won an Oscar for cinematography just before this and at one part of the film they are a breath away from being executed, only to be saved by an officer who points out that they are Italian. Now in 2009, and every day forward until the end of civilization, this collection of moving pictures becomes more and more potent, gaining credence with every new low that so-called 'modern' humanity sinks to, with the temporal yet exquisite fruits of it's labor always just out of reach of the masses. AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE

catheter1st This film is an uneasy time capsule. While the early narration clearly bemoans the end of Colonialism in Africa, the 135 minutes of footage that follows clearly justifies the stance of the filmmakers on that point. Basically it says that the handover comes too soon, before Africans are truly ready to rule themselves effectively.This film chronicles the handover of power in several former Colonies, chiefly Tanzania and Kenya, but also a few others. It contains authentic footage of Uhuru rallies, the trials and aftermaths of the Mau-Mau revolutionary movement, and the countless slaughter of both animals and humans alike. In particular, the revolution in Zanzibar under John Okello, and the resulting massacre of some 5000 Arab men, women, and children is clearly exposed, with scenes of mass shootings, mass graves, truckloads of bodies, and beaches littered with corpses as far as the camera can see.Filmed to shock? Maybe, but then again this really happened on the Dark Continent. The film is not without humor however, in particular one scene where an aspiring African politician makes his case to a bunch of tribal people with his bullhorn mounted to the back of a donkey, while a herd of goats knocks over his microphone into the mud. But images like this fade quickly when the viewer watches miles and miles of animal bones and carcasses littering the landscape, hunters killing elephants with the aid of helicopter terrorism, and Belgian paratroopers who execute people on camera in an effort to save a group of missionaries.All in all this is a very important film for anyone interested in how the current state of affairs in Africa got their beginnings. Blame is squarely placed on both the colonial powers, and the new African rulers for failure to effect a proper transfer of power. This version of the film is available in both the Mondo Cane box set, and the far cheaper(in price) two-disc Shocumentary Extreme collection from Blue Underground.

haildevilman Yes, this is real. At least the visual part. Some of the voice-over was changed in editing. Whether the intent was to make it more horrifying or to justify some of the scenes, I'm not sure.The massacre scenes and the Stanleyville battle will be hard to watch.The narrator sounded like he was seeing this for the first time as he was narrating. The shock was plain. But then that was the point.Beware of early vids that are missing 20-30 minutes of footage.I don't think the filmmakers meant to take sides here. Although I get the impression the hunting scenes were the main reason for filming. They just seemed to find out about certain other events and jumped on it.

Aspsusa This just aired on the small (digital) "culture" channel here in Finland. I am not sure whether this was the censored or the uncensored version - if this was the censored one I don't even want to think about what might be in the uncensored version.Very very very impressive photography and - above all - editing. It *is* in parts very gruesome (esp. animal lovers should be prepared for some depictions of mindless cruelty) - but it also shows beautiful things, black, white, animal and floral.That this is hard to come by today I can understand, it is just impossible politically incorrect (and must have been so at the time too). The makers of this movie seem to sympathise with everyone and no-one