In the not-too-distant future on Italy’s southern coast, the city of Taranto has become a toxic wasteland ruled by warring gangs and surrounded by barbed wire, where best friends Mondocane and Pisspants dream of escaping their hardscrabble existence for a better life. Opportunity knocks when Hothead, the charismatic and dangerous leader of the Ants gang, recruits the two boys and gives them everything they fantasized about. The friendship begins to splinter as Pisspants displays a surprising talent for mayhem and quickly rises through the ranks. With an obsessed cop hounding the gang, and Hothead becoming increasingly unhinged, the boys barrel toward a confrontation that will determine if their bond is strong enough to survive. Recalling everything from Mad Max to Lord of the Flies, director Alessandro Celli’s thrilling feature debut is a stylish post-apocalyptic vision.
For in-depth thoughts on Mondocane, please see my colleague Andre Couture’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Mondocane comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that is truly a wonder. This is a visually rich film with grotesquely beautiful shots of a deteriorating natural world and the city throughout where you can see an incredible amount of detail. The film is not bursting with vivid colors in every frame, but there are various moments that really pop, especially in some of the lighting choices. The interiors are typically a more dour and dark environment that presents with a “depths of hell” warm tone that the presentation represents perfectly with a pleasing richness. The white levels are handled beautifully, along with the intensely deep blacks that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts. The skin tones look very detailed and natural all around with cuts and facial hair easily distinguishable. This presentation is definitely a knockout on the Blu-Ray format.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with both a DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio track in the original Italian that conjures a very desolate mood that transports you to this locale. The film uses music in really intriguing ways that fill the room, especially when things get a bit trippy after the frog licking. Dialogue comes through crystal clear without ever being overpowered by the sound effects or the score. The sound design is just as precisely thought-out as the on screen visuals with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects create a really controlled soundscape of nature and the din of the dying streets. Action comes in fits and spurts, but activity in the low end radiates through you when things do kick into gear. This is an excellent sounding release that brings the movie to life in a really powerful way.
Special Features
- The Making Of Mondocane: A six-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss the story, what roles they play in the feature, creating a dystopian vision, the themes of the film and more.
- Trailer: The two-minute trailer for the film is provided here which does a nice job of selling the experience.
Final Thoughts
Mondocane is a pretty engaging dystopian coming-of-age tale which feels slightly unfocused at times, but overall keeps you invested in how the story is going to play out. The performances from the two young boys could sink the movie if they were not believable, but thankfully they each put forth some solid work, although both are overshadowed by their endearing female counterpart. The film is not perfect, but overall it succeeds thanks to the strong commitment to building a believable world and the narrative impact. Kino Lorber has provided a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and a minimal amount of special features. This journey is worth taking if the film sounds even remotely interesting to you. Recommended
Mondocane will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray and Digital on July 12, 2022.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Lorber has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.