A Fool's World (1964)

Memorable, crazy movie

Absolutely brilliant

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

MONDO BALORDO is one of the many mondo documentaries that boomed in Italy in the 1960s. This one's narrated by the ever-genteel Boris Karloff, whose dulcet tones add immeasurably to the viewing experience. The rest is the usual concoction of clips culled from news footage, documentaries, et al. What's remarkable about this one is just how tame it feels for the modern viewer, a film where dwarfs, transvestites, and lesbians are described as 'strange' and 'abhorrent'. Elsewhere, there are scenes of women exercising and in their bikinis on the beach; Bedouin prostitutes; debauchery in Hong Kong nightclubs; elephant hunting and turtle butchery; zoo scenes and operations on sick dogs. It's all so dated that it feels like it comes from another world.

The so-called “Mondo” exploitation documentaries weren’t the sole province of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi who made the first such film, MONDO CANE (1961), and several more thereafter. This is one of their imitations and it’s actually the first I’ve watched of the latter: while I can’t say that the ‘originals’ were exactly good to begin with, or even enticing to the undersigned, the films made by other hands (at least, judging by this title) are downright mediocre. Though each entry in the genre purported to tackle specific themes, they were mostly interchangeable, so much so that some of the idiosyncrasies dealt with here (say, the 'phenomenon' of transvestism or the dubious assertion that camel waste possesses beautifying properties) were also featured in WOMEN OF THE WORLD (1963), which I watched a fortnight or so ago! Among the wackier episodes here involves a midget pop-star; otherwise, the accent is on titillation (censorship hadn’t completely relaxed as yet) and, needless to say, there are the usual insensitive depictions of animal cruelty. Frankly, however, the single most notable thing about this particular effort is the fact that the narration for the English-language edition was provided by none other than horror icon Boris Karloff (clearly making for one of the lowest points in his generally respectable filmography).

Mondo Balordo (1964) * (out of 4) Yet another imitation of the MONDO CANE series, this one featuring narration by Boris Karloff (just think from this to The Grinch!). What we basically do is travel across the world taking a look at various strange rituals mainly dealing with sex. There's some dwarf love going on but of course the big highlight is the animal violence, which was rampant during this "period" of cinema. I know many people outright hate these mondo movies simply because they see them as nothing but trash. I wouldn't go to that level because there are some that were meant to shock but also they were well made. That's not the case here as this is clearly just an attempt to make some money and there's no question that it's poorly made and mainly boring. The one "highlight", if you want to call it that, is Karloff doing the narration but I'm willing to bet that he just signed the back of a check and didn't actually see what he was putting his voice to.

I've never been real big into "mondo" films. I've seen a few over the years, but they've just never really held my interest. I've had a bunch laying around that I'd been given, and figured I'd give a few a shot to see if my opinion has changed. Not knowing anything about MONDO BOLARDO, I decided to give it a go. I wish I'd have never bothered. I'm going to spend very little time summarizing this one.Boris Karloff narrates a bunch of EXTREMELY boring and non-shocking stuff that shows no nudity, sleaze, or any of the other things that mondo-fans seem to dig. The most "shocking" scene is some African hunting footage...I guess I should have done my research and realized that this film was made in 1964. Had I known that, I would have expected something about as exciting and sleazy as ANTIQUES ROADSHOW instead of something more akin to FACES OF DEATH. The only reason I was able to sit through the entire run-time of this one is because I was doing other things while it was on - namely, trying to pay as little attention to the film as humanly possible, while still retaining enough to advise that it sucks. I can recommend this film to...well...no one - unless you are suffering from severe insomnia - in which case, this one should do the trick nicely...2/10