MOCKUMENTARY TO THE EXTREME

Telling the story of a search for a lost group of documentary filmmakers, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (Ruggero Deodato, 1980) delves deep into the Amazon rain forest.  Much of the film is composed of "discovered" footage from the lost crew that depicts savage behavior from those you might not suspect.  This is considered one of the most extreme films committed to celluloid and created great controversy during its release.  Upon the film's release, its director was arrested and charged with obscenity and the film was banned in several countries.  The uproar surrounding the film stemmed not only from its graphic violence and sexuality but also the rumor that actual deaths were filmed.  Thus CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST was considered a snuff film, a film that depicts an actual death for exploitative purposes.  CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is widely considered an example of an exploitation film, a film that markets lurid material to get its audience normally regarded as obscene and gratuitous, while some critics have considered it as a strong commentary of savagery in modern western culture.  Now infamous, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST is ranked among the most controversial films ever made.  Famed Italian director Sergio Leone wrote to Deodato stating, "What a movie! The second part is a masterpiece of cinematographic realism, but everything seems so real that I think you will get in trouble with all the world."

MAN BITES DOG SCREENING

"A deeply compelling, if ultimately confused, indictment of screen violence as entertainment, one that continues to shock and confound."
-James Kendrick, Q NETWORK FILM DESK

"It starts out as murderious black comedy.  Then, by making the violence increasingly unbearable, it turns the moral barrel on the audience.  It's a cruel trick, but that's the movie's rather tenuous point."
-Desson Howe, WASHINGTON POST

Part-mockumentary and part meditation on screen violence and audience complicity, MAN BITES DOG won the International Critic Prize at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.  It follows two documentary filmmakers, Andre and Remy, who discover an ideal subject, Ben.  Charismatic, witty, and intelligent, Ben has one slight flaw... he is a serial killer.  Andre and Remy begin by simply documenting Ben's crimes and words of wisdom, but as the project continues they become increasingly entwined with the material they are filming.  The film stunned audiences and ignited controversy concerning screen violence and has become a scathing satire on the media violence and a meta-commentary on the thin line between observer, participant and accomplice. 

Suggested Supplemental Screenings:  RESERVOIR DOGS (Quentin Tarantino, 1992), NATURAL BORN KILLERS (Olivier Stone, 1994), GIMMIE SHELTER (The Maysels Brothers, 1970), and THE BRIDGE (Eric Steel, 2006)