Savage Man Savage Beast

Ultime grida dalla savana (1975) (English: Final Cry of the Savanna), also known as La Grande caccia and by its English title Savage Man Savage Beast, is a Mondo documentary directed by Antonio Climati and Mario Morra. Filmed all around the world, its central theme focuses on hunting and the interaction between man and animal. More specifically, the film documents various forms of hunting that can be found in the world and how humans and animals can both become the hunter or prey. Like many Mondo films, the filmmakers claim to document real, bizarre and violent behavior and customs, although some scenes were actually staged. It is narrated by the Italian actor and popular dubber Giuseppe Rinaldi and the text was written by Italian novelist Alberto Moravia. This was the first film of Climati's and Morra's Savage Trilogy, which also includes Savana violenta (This Violent World) and Dolce e selvaggio (Sweet and Savage). The best known film of the trilogy, Ultime grida dalla savana became influential in exploitation cinema by use of cinematographic techniques that were repeated in numerous subsequent Mondo films. Two scenes in particular, a lion attack on a tourist in Namibia and the murder of an indigenous man by a group of mercenaries in South America, have gained notoriety as genuine footage of human death. The film also sparked a rivalry between the team of Climati and Morra and the brothers Alfredo and Angelo Castiglioni. These two teams became the forerunners of the second generation of Mondo cinema.