Films: 1980s
(1980) Cannibal Holocaust
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Cannibal Holocaust
Director: Ruggero Deodato
Release: 1980
When director Ruggero Deodato was arrested and forced to prove the actors from his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust had survived the filming, the movie earned itself a place among the most controversial, most disturbing films of all time.
Its reputation is not without merit. Even some 27 years later, the film's depictions of ritualistic murder, castration, abortion, cannibalism and animal cruelty stand up against even the most graphic of modern cinema.
It has been banned in Italy, the UK, Australia and several other countries. Until recently, the movie was hard to find in the United States.
Of late, rumor of an upcoming remake have reignited some of the controversy and made the film more widely available. Much to the dismay of those who viewed it as a well-guarded secret, now even a genre neophyte can add it to their Netflix queue.
Although most of the film's hype comes from its gore, the film is about more than that. For 95 minutes, Deodato's most famous film explores media sensationalism and the savagery of modern civilization.
The film contains two central stories. The first is the journey of New York University anthropology professor Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman) into the Amazon"a part on the border between Brazil and Peru known as "The Green Inferno""to find four documentary filmmakers who disappeared while working several weeks before.
The group included director Alan Yates (Carl Gabriel Yorke), Alan's girlfriend Faye (Francesca Ciardi) and cameramen Jack Anders (Perry Pirkanen) and Mark Tomaso (Luca Barbareschi). Monroe soon finds out they have been slain by the Yanomamos"a tribe of cannibals the filmmakers had been trying to reach. Their recovered footage becomes the second"and more troubling"portion of the film.
Initially, the footage runs like The Real World spliced with a bit of seventies porn. There is poor acting, a woman who cannot quite seem to get her clothes on, shaky camera work and candid moments not meant for public viewing. The jocularity quickly dissolves in the heat and messiness of the Green Inferno. It becomes evident that the filmmakers are not interested in that old adage urging campers and hikers to "leave the forest as you found it."
When the group captures a turtle to make for dinner, all but Faye seem to relish tearing the creature apart, ripping its insides and watching it squirm. Later, a venomous snake bites the group's guide. Mark appears almost euphoric as he severs and cauterizes the man's leg in an unsuccessful attempt to save him.
They mock the tribal customs of the indigenous peoples. In fact, it seems the group is not interested in creating a documentary at all. Instead, they want a sensational bit of film that will sell well back in the States. In one particularly gruesome scene, the group burns a house full of tribesmen and then films it as though they happened upon a scene of intertribal warfare.
Monroe is disgusted by what he sees. When he is asked to narrate the airing of the footage back in the United States, he refuses. Still, the network executives are not convinced. They continue to push Monroe, wanting to show the way the "savages" behave. 
Monroe is forced to show the executives the final reel. On it, the crew is seen raping and torturing a young Yamomamo girl. Later"in an image that has become iconic and central to the film"the same girl is found impaled through her genitals and out her mouth, presumably by the filmmakers themselves.
Monroe's initial mission was to bring the film crew back alive. After viewing their film reels, a disgusted Monroe asks, "I wonder who the real cannibals are?"
That question is at the heart of Cannibal Holocaust.
The message is not subtle. As an audience, we are meant to identify with the indigenous tribes and to find the American filmmakers morally repugnant. Mission accomplished. Still, for those who have the stomach, the movie is an important one to see.
It's influence is far reaching and has touched many movie-makers including Eli Roth who even gave Deodato a cameo in "Hostel II." Most notably, the film's mock documentary style influenced the 1999 film, "The Blair Witch Project," which also benefited from the kind of ground roots publicity campaign as "Cannibal Holocaust."
Both movies have web pages devoted to them that blur the line between reality and fiction. The questions begin to circulate: Is it real or isn't it? Is this, in fact, a snuff film? Is the recovered footage real?
The documentary style is one that modern audiences have become accustomed to viewing thanks to reality television shows. But in 1980, this style was revolutionary. There is an intimacy that ups the emotional ante. We are viewing private moments that play like our parents' Super 8 home movies. The net effect is an audience more horrified by the filmmakers' eventual demise.
The film is not without problems. The quality is debatable, straddling the border between pornography and art. In fact, the actor who plays Professor Monroe did double duty in the 1970's as a porn star, appearing in many famous flicks including "Debbie Does Dallas."
The soundtrack"a mix of classical and early 1980s synthesizer-- contrasts sharply against the images onscreen. It is meant to evoke emotion. Instead it dates the movie and feels out of place.
Further, all of the animals killed in the film were real. This works as a double-edged sword, making the human carnage more believable, but also sensationalizing the film and possibly detracting from the core message.
Deodato claims to have been inspired to make this film by footage of the Vietnam War. He wanted to exploit the media's bloodlust. In doing so, he has created a film that many consider the most bloody and vile of all time, so is Deodato a hypocrite or a genius? Twenty-five years later, this film is a harrowing hour-and-a-half that makes most war footage aired on CNN look like Sesame Street.
Sasha Brown-Worsham
Cinescare Correspondent
Cannibal Holocaust, 1980
The documentary style is one that modern audiences have become accustomed to viewing thanks to reality television shows. But in 1980, this style was revolutionary. There is an intimacy that ups the emotional ante.
