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PAGE 7 (Four panels)

Panel 1: Enzo in a suit, standing at the front door of an Italian cinema, proudly gesturing with his cane at a promotional placard which reads “Venite a vedere una bellissima ragazza dei tropici venir mangiata viva in un orribile rituale pagano!“

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (1): The Scelleratini brothers had hoped, on their return to Italy, to make a small fortune exhibiting their remarkable footage to the public.

Translation (1): Les frères Scelleratini espéraient qu’à leur retour en Italie ils puissent gagner une petite fortune en projetant leur film remarquable.

Panel 2: KING VICTOR EMMANUEL III sitting at an ornate desk in his royal study, signing a piece of paper.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (2): Unfortunately for them, their film was banned by an edict signed by King Victor Emmanuel III himself. The Lord Chancellor in England and the Chief Prefect of Police in France took similar actions.

Translation (2): Malheureusement pour eux, leur film fut interdit par un décret signé par le roi Victor Emmanuel III lui-même. Le lord Chancelier en Angleterre et le préfet de police en chef en France prirent des mesures semblables.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (3): Both Scelleratini brothers would die in poverty.

Translation (3): Les frères Scelleratini moururent dans la pauvreté.

Panel 3: BENITO MUSSOLINI, sitting in his private cinema, watching something. Mussolini’s face is illuminated by reflected light from the screen. He looks disgusted and outraged.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (4): In 1927, Italy’s Fascist Grand Council would declare the film a menace to public morality and order all copies of it destroyed.

Translation (4): En 1927, le Grand conseil de l’Italie fasciste déclara que le film constitue une menace pour la morale et l’ordre public, en ordonnant que toutes les copies soient détruites.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (5): What the Scelleratini brothers documented would pass out of memory…

Translation (5): Plus personne ne se souviendrait de ce que les frères Scelleratini avaient documenté.

Panel 4: Exterior view of the Cineteca di Bologna (drawn or incorporated as a “comicked up” photograph).

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (6): But at least one print of the film escaped the destruction order, and in 1977, a researcher found that print in the archives of the Cineteca di Bologna, where it had been misfiled, possibly on purpose.

Translation (6): Mais au moins une bobine du film échappa à la destruction et, en 1977, un chercheur la retrouva dans les archives de la Cineteca di Bologna où elle avait été mal classée, peut-être volontairement.

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PAGE 5 (Four panels)

(Note : Still in sepia)

Panel 1: A long Polynesian outrigger canoe, being rowed through the surf by muscular young men. Standing implausibly in the middle of the canoe is Enzo, his movie camera rigged on a tripod somehow, cranking away and filming some scene he can see from the canoe.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (1): The Scelleratini brothers were even invited along to film the “wedding.”

Translation (1): Les frères Scelleratini furent même invités à filmer le « mariage ».

Panel 2: View of another outrigger canoe, also rowed by strong young men. The Bride sits in the bow of the canoe, gazing out to sea.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (2): The people rowed out to a spot of ocean known to be over a deep oceanic trench.

Translation (2): Les habitants pagayaient vers l’océan en un lieu connu pour surplomber une fosse océanique profonde.

Panel 3: The Bride now stands in the bow of the canoe. She has removed her muumuu and is naked, holding her muumuu over her head so that it trails behind her in the wind. She is wearing a beatific expression.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (3): Those involved seemed to regard the entire proceeding as a blessed occasion.

Translation (3): Ceux impliqués semblaient considérer la cérémonie comme une occasion bénie.

Panel 4: The Bride in mid-dive off the bow of the canoe into the ocean.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (4): The “bride” seemed to be acting of her own free will.

Translation (4): L’« épouse » semblait agir de son plein gré.

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PAGE 4 (Four panels)

(Note : The panels on this page should be sepia-toned, a visual indicator of the age of the photographic and cinematic material they are meant to represent.)

Panel 1: Two Italian men, ENZO SCELLERATINI (“Enzo”) and GUIDO SCELLERATINI (“Guido”) absurdly overdressed for their environment stand in coats, bow-ties, and bowler hats, posed on a beach with an old-fashioned, crank-operated movie camera. (Note : Both men have somewhat silly handlebar mustaches.)

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (1): In 1905, Italian brothers Enzo and Guido Scelleratini, following up on sailors’ rumors of a strange native cult on the South Seas island of Motofupo, went there with a movie camera in hopes of finding something unusual.

Translation (1): En 1905, les frères italiens Enzo et Guido Scelleratini, suite à des rumeurs recueillies auprès de marins au sujet d’un culte indigène étrange à Motofupo, une île des Mers du Sud, s’y rendirent armés d’une caméra dans l’espoir de filmer quelque chose d’inhabituel.

Panel 2: A group of attractive young Polynesian-looking women dressed in muumuuu-like garments reaching into a sack together to draw something out.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (2): In spite of the fact that their rituals were rumored to include human sacrifice, the indigenous people proved friendly and allowed the Scelleratini brothers to film them and one of those very rituals.

Translation (2): Malgré les soupçons que leurs rituels impliquaient des sacrifices humains, la population autochtone a bien pris le fait que les frères Scelleratini les filment ainsi que l’un de leurs rituels.

Panel 3: Close up of two hands of different young women in the panel. One holds a white stone, another a black stone.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (3): The first part of the ritual was a selection process to pick specific young women to be given to a “God of the Deeps” in marriage.

Translation (3): La première partie du rituel était un processus de sélection pour choisir de jeunes femmes destinées à être offertes en mariage à un « Dieu des profondeurs ».

Panel 4: One young woman of the Motofupo people (“the Bride”), cradling a stone, wearing a beatific expression.

CAPTION – PSEUDO-NARRATION (4): According to observers and apparent on the film was that the young women so selected did not seem distressed. They instead seemed pleased and honored.

Translation (4): Selon des observateurs, les jeunes femmes choisies ne semblaient pas être inquiètes, ce que confirme également le visionnage du film. Au lieu de cela, elles semblaient heureuses et honorées.

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