Movies: 'Faces Of Death'

Faces of Death was released in the 1970s, as part of the decade’s Mondo film emergence (courtesy of Italy). Mondo, meaning ‘World’ in Italian, became known as pseudo realism projected on film for the purposes of exploitation, during a time when the media was rife with depictions of violence. Today, with advances in technology, an emphasis on content generating and rampant social media communications, it was inevitable such a film should remain relevant to todays media.

My curiosity about the film was roused by my inexplicable interest in all things horror, gore and shock in fiction – I gotta have it! Of course, a lot of debate has arisen over whether Faces of Death was real, or faked. Many would use the term ‘snuff’, an urban legend of films made to show real life death on camera, usually with a sexual accompaniment. This is the underground, dirty little secret of film making.

Upon viewing Faces of Death, I was a) convinced that it was indeed NOT real, and b) absolutely drawn into its purpose. The former I determined by the obvious set up of scripted narrative, the overly staged approach to documentary style and the clear fakery of blood and guts make up. The latter point was a total surprise to me, as I was actually expecting a feature length film of unsavoury clips and not much else. Yes, the film is a fake, but the aims and message of it are strong and interpretable.

In saying that, I could see there were two possible ways of interpreting Faces of Death: either it is a moralistic tale of life, nature and death; or it is a satire of Mondo film.

Let’s interpret it as a moralistic tale: one other film that sprung to mind when watching Faces of Death was Cannibal Holocaust. Cannibal Holocaust was one of many Italian cannibal horror films to breed throughout the 1970s (these would be considered Italian by production, the majority of the cast and crew, but ultimately dubbed in English). The film is broken down into two parts: initially, we follow a professor conducting research into the disappearance of four documentary filmmakers who ventured into the Amazon jungle, to investigate tales of cannibalism amongst Amazonian tribes. What the professor soon discovers is a number of lost tapes, documenting the footsteps of the filmmakers and their grisly demise at the hands of the tribe. What he uncovers is something that started out as a documentary about the tribe and cannibalism, and ended up with the filmmakers stepping into territory of which they abused and exploited. When the professor presents his findings to a bunch of ratings hungry television producers wanting to showcase it to the public, he guides them through the footage first in order to challenge their decision once they have viewed it. This then brings us to the second half of the film, which comprises of the found footage, presenting the film very much in the style of a documentary. This is where the film differs slightly from the representation of Faces of Death: Faces of Death wants the viewer to believe that the film is a documentary, suspending our disbelief. Cannibal Holocaust needn’t do so, as we are already privy to the fact that the film is indeed fictional, thanks to the first half comprising of the fourth wall (although it does feature some documentary style footage, whereby certain characters who have/ had relationships with the missing filmmakers are being interviewed).

What Cannibal Holocaust and Faces of Death share is an undertone of societal paranoia, moralistic tales of increasing voyeurism of violence and supposed tribal savagery vs. Western world savagery. We may view killings within the animal kingdom; of man hunting animals, torturing animals, torturing one another; or capital punishment and ask ourselves why we view it, desire it, are intrigued by it. Furthermore, we may wonder why we are so critical and fear countries and cultures foreign to us, for supposed savage rituals and traditions, when their acts of violence, evil and cruelty are of no greater extent than our own.

The narrator of Faces of Death takes each segment of film, introducing us to it usually with tales of his travels to a certain destination - be it the jungles in South America, tribal territories within Africa, or at home in America – and explains the different processes of killing/death in whatever variation it may be, and offers his own personal feelings about it, which more than anything appear very left wing. With many of the segments, the narrator takes this opportunity to remind us of how death can be a result of: our own personal carelessness, from the lifestyle we choose, such as drug abuse, thrill chasing, or crime; taking precious life into our own hands, be it by mass killing, murder or execution; and most interesting of all, a focus on (the Western) man’s desire to “get closer to God”, moreover from taking life perhaps as a sacrifice, whether it be that of an animal, or a human.

In considering the film as a satire, we might easily dismiss it as mocking the viewer and the content. Is it trying to convince us and make fools of us for thinking it is real? Is it offering more and more of the gratuitous violence and horror we have been demanding? All this in light of an abundance of similar horror flicks, easily obtained on VHS, which fittingly acquired the name ‘Video Nasties’.

The film overall highlights some interesting thinking points. For one, it is keen to suggest that we as humans, individually and as a whole, consider our past mistakes in order to stay alive, either when taking risks with our own lives, or in war. Notably, the film parallels the animal kingdom and humans, for instance in segments showing the capture of an alligator, or the feeding of a bear, with the human underestimating the danger of being so close to nature’s predators (even if they are shamelessly staged!) Secondly, it focusses on fears of lifestyle choices, foods and technology as a means of future causes of premature death. Thirdly, there are sure undertones of the ultimate goal shared collectively amongst humans: the goal of curing cancer. Fourthly, the film itself is an exploration of our obsession with death, pain and the afterlife. It asks us what we seek when choosing to view death on film. Are we hoping to be reassured that death is painless? Do we seek to know what awaits us after death? Or do we have a morbid need to watch such visual images on screen for gratification, slowly desensitising us?

What is most interesting about the film is its place within the media of today. With online viewing channels such as YouTube (where I in fact viewed the film), with easier access to what can be seen, Faces of Death is perhaps even more appropriate now than ever before.