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It would be easy to dismiss Pier Paolo Pasolini\u2019s Salo: or the 120 Days of Sodom<\/a><\/em> as disgusting, revolting, and repulsive–all of which it is. \u00a0And yet, there is something nagging underneath it all.\u00a0 Something this extreme could not possibly be without merit, could it?\u00a0 It must have some redeeming value.\u00a0 Whatever that value may be, for most people, it will not be enough to justify this film.<\/p>\nBased on a novel by Marquise de Sade and updated to portray Fascist Italy, the film concerns four men (a president, a Duke, a magistrate, and a Bishop) who agree to kidnap nine teenage boys and nine teenage girls, take them to a secluded villa, and submit them to their every whim and desire.\u00a0 \u201cAll is good if it\u2019s excessive,\u201d they say.\u00a0 The film begins with the Antechamber of Hell, which includes the kidnapping and the careful selection of the boys and girls.\u00a0 Next the film is divided into circles reminiscent of the structure of Dante\u2019s Inferno, another decent into hell.<\/p>\n
The first circle, Circle of Obsessions, has a veteran prostitute telling salacious, pedophilic stories of her youth, intended to arouse the four men to similar acts with their captives.\u00a0 The second circle and most difficult to get through, Circle of Shit, has another prostitute telling of her coprophiliac experiences which inspire unimaginably disgusting encounters with feces.\u00a0 The final circle, Circle of Blood, has the four men indulging in the tortures of their captives.<\/p>\n
This film reaches to the depths of depravity to show us the absolute abuse of power. \u00a0It is not for the faint of heart…or most other people for that matter.\u00a0 Many will not make it past even the first circle, having been put off by the abundant, dehumanizing nudity, homosexuality, and pedophilic moments, as well as the abuses they inspire.\u00a0 This film will test your limits, and I feel confident that many will not pass this test.\u00a0 However, if you are able to make your way through the film you are eventually left with the question, \u201cWhy?\u201d\u00a0 Many will feel it was unnecessary to have ever made this film and will dismiss it as trash. \u00a0Others, perhaps, may discover there is much to contemplate that may only reveal itself in (Gasp!) repeated viewings.\u00a0 Pasolini\u2019s Dante-like structure and very cold cinematography are things of beauty.\u00a0 There is much to discover in the film about humanity and inhumanity, survival, power, instincts, nature, society, domination, submission etc.\u00a0 In a film so full of atrocities and without easy explanations, much is left to be pondered and interpreted.\u00a0 This is a film that, even if I wanted to, I would not feel I could recommend to you.\u00a0 I have given you enough information for you to make your own decision if you want to walk down this path or steer clear of it.\u00a0 I do warn you, though, once you do see this film you will be hard pressed to rid yourself of its images.<\/p>\n
DVD Extras:<\/strong>\u00a0 40 minute documentary The End of Salo, 35 minute documentary with interviews with Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jean Claude Biette, and\u00a0Nineto Divoli, a short documnetary Fade to Black with interviews with Catherine Breillat, John Maybury, Jear Pierre Gorin, Dante Ferretti, and Bernardo Bertolucci, and theatrical trailer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reviewed by Byron Potau.\u00a0 Viewed on DVD. It would be easy to dismiss Pier Paolo Pasolini\u2019s Salo: or the 120 Days of Sodom as disgusting, revolting, and repulsive–all of which it is. \u00a0And yet, there is something nagging underneath it all.\u00a0 Something this extreme could not possibly be without merit, could it?\u00a0 It must have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvd","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}