riz ortolani: farewell uncle tom

Dagored present a vinyl reissue of the soundtrack for Farewell Uncle Tom ("Addio Zio Tom"), complete with extra tracks. Italian directors Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi gave birth to a whole new subgenre of "non-fiction" exploitation movies with their 1962 hit Mondo Cane. After repeated accusations of forgery, unethical behaviors, and war crimes, they decided to make a movie about the atrocities of American slavery as an apology of sorts. It was 1971 and the movie was Farewell Uncle Tom ("Addio Zio Tom"). The famous critic Roger Ebert called the result "the most disgusting, contemptuous insult to decency ever to masquerade as a documentary." Naked flesh, voyeurism, and violence is constantly used but gorgeous photography and a memorable score from Academy Award nominee Riz Ortolani add a sickening slickness to it all: rock-beat tunes mixed with classic big band themes, waltz, and funny marches and the beautiful "Oh My Love", with the vocals from Katyna Ranieri, used, among many others by Winding Refn in his cult movie Drive (2011).