"Io sto con gli ippopotami" or "I'm for the Hippopotamus" or "Das Krokodil und sein Nilpferd" is a co-production between Italy and South Africa from 1979, so this one had its 40th anniversary last year. Yep, it's still 2020. The South African impact here probably mostly comes from where this film is set. The language is Italian all along. Maybe some of the actors are also Soth African, which could explain why so many cast members here, also some who really had a lot of screen time, have never been in any films before or after this movie we got here. The central language here is Italian though, even if there is also English included apparently. I do not really know where because I watched the German dub and in here the language was German from beginning to end. Actually, by now with all I have seen, I'd probably have a hard time to get used to Spencer's original voice or an English dub. But it's okay as I don't have to. At minimally over 90 minutes, it is definitely one of his shorter, probably even shortest movies. But at the same time, it is also one of my very favorites. I have seen this film many times already and even if I maybe did not like it as much today as I did on other occasions, there is still no way I will ever think about giving this one anything other than a genuinely positive recommendation. I will mention a few nice moments and scenes later on. As for the basics, the director here is Italo Zingarelli and he is also one of the four writers. Really a lot for this rather short films. But I think that Italian films in general often have more writers than films from most other countries. This includes Germany as well. By the way, look at the German title. It's the only one from those I mentioned that includes Hill's character as well. The reason is that the dub changed it a bit even for us here. The characters are nicknamed hippo and crocodile and that's how they keep calling each other. The international title and Italian title only make a reference to standing (up) for hippos. Which is still cool as I like these animals a lot. I know they can be pretty dangerous and certainly I would not run into one in the wild, but one of my favorite stuffed animals as a child, maybe even my number one, was a hippo. Still is obviously. And let's be honest: The picture here on imdb really has Spencer look like a hippo standing in the water there. At least more than Hill looks like a crocodile. But this fits too. Spencer is big and strong. Hill is fast and strong. As for Zingarelli again, he still lived for quite some time after this film, but it is a bit surprising to see him as a director here because he produced a lot, but really directing films was a big exception. This was also already from pretty late in his career. But it's no exception that Spencer movies are directed by people who often mostly work in other fields of production. As for the basics still, take a look at the cast here. I already said that many cast members are pretty unknown and we don't know what they did before and after this film, but it seems they were no professional actors, at least no professional movie actors, but I assume back in 1979 there weren't that many films produced in South Africa that they had a chance to make a living this way. They probably had other jobs. For example, even the key henchman is played by sombody who wasn't in anything else. Johan Naude is the name. All we know is he died in 2010. Or Les Marcowitz, the small foul-mouthed antagonist. He also appeared in one other movie. That is all we know. But Joe Bugner I have to mention. He is the main villain here. He boxed, Ali several times, Frazier once as well, so a really world-famous athlete. I guess this explains why is at least somewhat capable of standing up to Spencer in their comedic fight before he falls into the water at the end. Interesting addition for sure, especially because he is not South African or anything.
Alright, this film delivered on many occasions. I will mention some now. The end is of course so nice when all these animals get to be free. There are so many animals in here honestly, I can't even mention them all. Ostrichs for example too I did not remember. But it is fitting with the title that fauna is crucial in here. I love animals! One aspect I also genuinely enjoyed was the music. Spencer's "Grau Grau Grau" with the kids is so much fun and also a really uplifting number and the Shosholoza version you can hear in the final half hour several times is so nice that I even got it on my MP3 player. Added it a long time ago after seeing this film. That's how much I like it. As for an individually great scene or moment, my number one is probably really short and small. Like when we have a bad guy throw a knife right next to Hill's character's hand during that casino sequence. And Spencer says something like "hey careful, that's not a cheese sandwich". I have no idea why, but I found this so incredibly funny. It's the typical comedy of how they comment lightly on something actually pretty dangerous. Love it. By the way, they get attacked with knives here a lot. Normally, blades are not too common in Spencer and Hill movies. One character, it may have been the bald henchman, also attacks Spencer with a knife earlier and it ends up in the bad guy's foot. Oh well. I think all the henchmen here were somewhat fun because you could easily remember them from their looks (and behavior), even if they did not have a lot of material. I already mentioned the aggro dwarf. Also this film here seems really progressive in terms of tolerance. They were definitely trying all they could to not cause any race trouble. The two (who are cousins here by the way) have this elderly woman in their lives who is Black, not their real mother, but a bit of a mother figure if you can say so because she also is not feature too prominently in here. And the two heroes beat up the White cops, but then step out and they have all these guns pointed at them from the Black folks with their rifles. And the mess at the courtroom also happens to White folks. They even mentioned the prosecutor is one of the villain's guys. By the way, we see early on how the villain acts really disrespectfully towards an old partner, his coach or something, and there we know already we are supposed to dislike him. We shall remember because then the character was gone for a long time again, it was just his introduction basically before he got featured more frequently in the second half. Anyway, what I mean is there is a lot of tolerance towards Blacks and animals in this film. The scene with the gun was funny too like when Spencer's character says the bullets are all fake and then shoots and destroys a tire because with his own gun he forgot to replace the actual bullets. And his tourist group heard it and they were not happy at all. Not because they were the only ones that got shot at with real bullets (instead of the animals), but because this way it is just a pseudo hunt. But yeah, they made sure Spencer's character is also likable and would not fire at animals. The result of this scene is the mad little Asian guy there. I could really mention a lot more that I liked hered. I'll just keep going with some brainstorming. Spencer's laugh (the dub, not sure about the real one) is so hilarious the way we hear it at the casino when Hill's character wins big, but also how he reacts when the latter loses all the money to somebody who deserves it was nice to watch. The disappointment although he knows the money is where it should be. Spencer was not a bad actor, even if he kept playing the same character over and over again. I think he was not just likable. He also had a lot of talent. Or the cheetahs in here are nice (especially the one at the end) or other wildcats where Hill really steps into their compound. Or how the main antagonist ends up in a compound himself to hide away from the wild animals. The scene where the good guys are eating together with the bad guys was fun too somehow. I just love thie dialogues in these films always. Also Bugner (who turned 70 this year) was really good at making an angry face expression. I would be scared if I had to face him in a ring. I am mostly referring to how he looked and what he said near the very end when he approached Spencer's character for the final fight. Oh and we get some arm wrestling in here as well, nothing unusual for Spencer films, but that you see Hill's character doing it was a bit of an exception. Spencer doing it was expected. Also kinda funny how the bad guy talked and reacted there haha. Still, realistically difficult to believe that Hill's character not only stood a chance, but that he won easily. Okay, this is it then I would say. I think i wrote more than I expected and there is probably nonetheless a lot I forgot about and maybe wanted to mention. But this also shows that I really, really like this film, even if it was not my best viewing for this one here compared to others in the past. In any case, you totally must check this one out. I think the rating is clearly too low here on imdb. Such an entertaining movie. I will definitely watch it again in the future. Most likely several times. So should you as this is one of the very best from its year, not just from Italy, not just from Europe either, but worldwide. So much fun. It already starts with the sacred picture that amounts in the first fight. Or how the bad guys keep reacting after running into our heroes again and again. They are sick of getting beaten up over and over again and in the end just jump into the water on their own. Okay, that is really all though. Sorry, my review is not structured very well tonight, but I hope you ran read between the lines how enthusiastic I am about the outcome here. Highly recommended. And get well soon with the reflux or pyrosis or whatever it is called Tom (yeah Buddy plays a character that has my name haha awesome) as I know how annoying it can be.
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