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I decided to begin making
cannibal movies because
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I've always worked for an organization
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whose main purpose is to make
successful movies.
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I went from westerns to horrors to 'gialli'
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then to the 'cannibal genre,'
as some called it.
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In those days, there were
already some movies
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which had achieved
international success.
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This film is actually part of a trilogy
which I made back then,
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a series of films that depicted
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exotic adventure.
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I made three of them:
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Mountain of the Cannibal God
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The Island of the Fishmen
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and the third one, which was called
Great Alligator River.
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At that time, we were working in
the 'imitation' genre,
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mimicking successful
American genre films
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...at ten times less cost.
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We shot in Sri Lanka and in Malaysia.
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In Malaysia there was 99% humidity
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and this is the type of movie where
you had to be physically fit to survive...
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I remember that reaching the grotto
location where we shot most of the film
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was disastrous because every day
some people were not able to
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climb the 1600 foot ascent.
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So you can imagine, with a constant
temperature of 96 degrees
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and all the accumulated exhaustion...
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those poor people who had to
carry all the equipment.
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I always said,
"I carry the responsibility,
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you carry the cameras!"
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Initially, we feared a very
uncomfortable situation there.
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But we also had a great life experience,
which I remember to this day.
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We saw crocodiles and
many other animals.
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I also took time to observe
the life of the natives
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where I discovered that
the women are the ones who work
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While the men in the shade
and get stoned.
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Sri Lanka is definitely
a very agreeable country.
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Weather-wise, it was the right season
to film and so it was very pleasant.
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We shot at the
Kandy Botanical Gardens.
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The Kandy Botanical Gardens is really
an extraordinary place
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where you can find
a true concentration of jungle.
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We also shot some scenes
in the real jungle
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but logistically that was extremely
difficult to do
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whereas in this garden
there are streets
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where you can park
the cast and crew trailers
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and there are these little collections of
forests that are completely wonderful,
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where the vegetation and leaves
are well cared for.
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I remember where we had some
wonderful shots
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like Stacy Keach cutting his way
through with a machete.
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Those scenes, for example,
were shot there.
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Obviously, the caretakers
were concerned
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about the vegetation, but anyway...
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He was an actor - like all American
actors - who was very professional.
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Excellent actor.
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He was somewhat disappointed
at the end of the movie
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because a certain scene had been
cut out of the film.
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It was a scene that he strongly wanted
when he agreed to make the film.
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But it wasn't a betrayal.
In reality, it didn't fit in the story.
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Basically, it was a choice that was
made for the good of the film.
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This was the only part of
our relationship
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that wasn't completely positive.
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Otherwise we remained good friends.
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Ursula Andress is an actress who has
absolutely no fear when it comes to
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her relationship with nature.
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She is a woman who had
explored Africa,
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perhaps during her relationship
with Belmondo
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who is also a very
adventurous person.
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For example, letting the python
wrap around her -
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although the python's head was
held by someone off-camera
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to prevent it from getting
a tighter grip,
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that's something
I would have never done.
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But she was a natural,
she had fun with it and was not afraid
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to have this violent contact
with nature.
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In this sense, I remember her as
a very courageous woman.
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Claudio Cassinelli was
an extraordinary actor,
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full of enthusiasm.
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I think that the misfortune of dying
so tragically as a fairly young man
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00:06:01,341 --> 00:06:04,139
- I believe that he was 47 years old
when he died -
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is that today he probably would be
a very popular actor
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in the thriving business of
Italian television dramas.
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He was an actor with great appeal
and was a person whom I considered
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to be extraordinary on a human level.
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I am very sad that
he is no longer with us.
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Cinema is a very beautiful profession
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because it always
makes you feel young.
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There is often this
campus-like atmosphere
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of people working together.
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But when you are confronted with
such tragedies, you are thrown into
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a harsh reality.
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What offended me was
one famous critic
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whose name I won't mention
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who wrote, "This is the movie
in which Claudio Cassinelli died.
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It wasn't worth it."
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And I wonder: For what movie,
even by the greatest director
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in the history of cinema,
would be worth dying for?
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The film definitely focused on
some images of violence
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that at times were meant to have
a documentary quality.
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There is the famous scene with the
monkey being eaten by the python
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that I believe has been
used in other films
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because it was so effective.
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It was an unfortunate scene.
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There was this 23-foot python that
followed us around for part of the film.
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It was like a supporting actor.
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And we tried to wake him up by having
a monkey walk up in front of it.
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Suddenly, the snake launched,
grabbing that poor animal.
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Now, the camera was already in
position and so we shot the scene
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which looks so very violent,
so very cruel.
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Actually, I am a little embarrassed
remembering that episode
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because we didn't do anything
for that animal
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although there was not much
we could do
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since pythons may look like animals
you can confront
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but they have teeth worse than
a moray eel.
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Well... the person in charge of
the animals was
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- I remember the scene being shot
in Malaysia - was very close,
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but the few moments of hesitation
were enough to make it impossible
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to avoid the inevitable outcome.
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Maybe it was cruel of us
to film that scene,
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but I remember many people
asking me over time how we shot it.
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It was a chance opportunity.
It was not planned.
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And I say this not to shed
any responsibility.
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Maybe this movie is a little too violent.
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I blame myself a little now,
because movies this violent are
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counter-educational.
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But in those days, to tell the truth,
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there were other movies
made earlier that are
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worse in that respect.
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We were protested by the local
puritans who were devout Muslims.
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They wrote in a newspaper
that the film contained nude scenes.
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Well yes, it did, but they were
scenes of natives.
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Then by the end of production,
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there were people screaming
out of their windows,
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"Italians go home!"
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Because God knows what kind of movie
they thought we were making.
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In reality, the movie didn't have any
erotic or pornographic content...
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I have a kind of love-hate relationship
with the movies I make
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because of the stress that you have
when there are limited budget and time.
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00:11:02,608 --> 00:11:08,638
Therefore, while you are making them
you are under a lot of pressure
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especially when shooting in
foreign countries
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because the point of reference
are different
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and as a result, at the time,
I suffered.
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00:11:21,127 --> 00:11:23,459
Now, as time passes,
what I remember is that
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- besides the fact that I was
20 years younger, which was nice -
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is the fact that
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this movie had a dimension
of realism
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in the eyes of its audience.
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That's the best thing about this movie.
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The great thing about those days
was that
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producers would always take my calls.
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I was always welcomed because
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the projects I proposed,
or the ones I made,
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with only a few exceptions, as you
always have in someone's career,
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always made money.
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People always made money
with my movies.
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I, on the other hand, didn't make
as much money.
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Fortunately, I recently discovered
an Internet site called
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"How to Make Money as a Director!"
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