When I first heard that Salo had been passed uncut in the UK I was like "Oh Wow!" this was shortly followed by the realisation that I never had a clue about any aspect of it. What I knew was that it was one of those films that old men seemed fascinated with. I also knew it was banned but I never knew what it was about.
The film is based on the novel Salo by the Marquis De Sade; any of you familiar with this sick little monkeys work is already aware that we are slipping down a very mucky slope. Director Pier Paolo Pasolini decided to bring the novel a little more up to date by transporting it to Italy during the Second World War.
A group of high ranking officers visit a small town; they take 18 promising youngsters and whisk them away to a fortress in the hills; they are told an experience like no other, and it's an experience indeed. Once getting them into the fortress they are stripped and humiliated; forced into engaging in a staged wedding in which excrement is the main course. Then raped, abused, castrated, murdered, the list goes on.
This may strike you as being incredibly lazy writing for me; but I find it difficult to address a pointless issue. There is no redeeming issue with Salo, there is no point to the piece; no lessons to be learned. It's not a work of art; it's not a piece of creative writing. What Salo is, is a disgusting totally abhorrent piece of film making filth that would sicken the most ardent horror enthusiast to the pit of their stomachs. I once read a review in which the reviewer expressed the need to masturbate during viewing; many of us find things strangely arousing during films; but to express this desire for this film in my mind makes the reviewer a mentally disturbed person.
Each cringeworthy moment on screen during this monstrously dysfunctional piece is played out to extreme detail; where as a normal movie might veer off onto the next scene they will show you a man having red hot wire forced into his penis. You must also bare in mind this tortured group of souls are still children.There is no need to show you the detail this movie does, it serves no purpose and in my honest view Pasolini simply wanted to go down in the history books for something; and he knew full well this would be the movie.
One interesting thing to point out about this movie is that it was immediately banned in Italy and Pasolini soon after was bludgeoned to death before being reversed over several times; apparently for making a lewd homosexual advance to a young man. Many believe however that this was somehow related to the project as in court it transpired that his assailant had been unnerved by the movie.
There are no special features on the DVD. It comes in Italian with English subtitles. This sick piece of filmmaking has now been removed from production; but can be purchased from several "specialist" sites for around £20; my best advice to you however is not to bother.
Pictures of Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom (DVD)
You Don't Want To Know
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Production Year: 2000 - Drama - Director: Giuseppe Tornatore - Original Language: Italian - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Monica Bellucci, Giuseppe Sulfaro, Luciano Federico, Matilde Piana
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Nice review, although you've got to remember that the film is not to be taken literally and is all some sort of metaphor representing fascism and the extreme right wing. Having said that, I'm not so sure how much I enjoyed this one either.
gantzgraf 04.05.2008 14:08
I give you a "very helpful" rating because of the quality of your review but I do not agree with you in the slightest.
I think that Passolini gave a clue to the purpose of the film by distancing himself from the atrocities. I feel that Salo is more of a documentary on the depths of human cruelty and a rather surprising analysis of totalitarianism. The want to dictate or impose religious morality or the abolishing of freedom and the destruction of self-respect stem from the same need to have complete and utter control over the human body and mind. It is frightening, it is repulsive, it is sickening...but it is TRUE and historically correct. We can look at Salo and learn from it if anything.
As for people masturbating to either the book or the film, I have to say that I find that particularly disturbing...but it has little to do with what Passolini is trying to express.
-Robert.
micheledog 17.04.2006 20:28
i think ill give this a white dog turd, whooops wide birth i mean x x x
Pier Paolo Pasolini'sSalò or the 120 Days of Sodom(known in Italian asSalò o le 120 ... more
giornate di Sodoma) provoked howls of outrage and execration on its original release in 1975, and the controversy rages to this day. Until the British Board of Film Cla...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
![Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom [DVD] [1975]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78542915.jpg "Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom [DVD] [1975]")
Apr 12th, 2006
very helpful by (100%):
