In World War II Italy, four fascist libertines round up nine adolescent boys and girls and subject them to one hundred and twenty days of physical, mental and sexual torture.
Nazi-Fascist Northern Italy, 1943-44. Four senior members of government, aided by henchmen and Nazi soldiers, kidnap a group of young men and women. They hold them for 120 days, subjecting them to all manner of torture, perversion and degradation.Written by
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Essential Bibliography: Roland Barthes: 'Sade, Fourier, Loyola' (Editions du Seuil); Maurice Blanchot: "Lautréamont et Sade' (Editions de Minuit; in Italy Dedalo Libri); Simone de Beauvoir: 'Faut-il brûler Sade' (Editions Gaimard); Pierre Klossowski: 'Sade mon prochain, le philosophe scélérat' (Editions du Seuil; in Italy SugarCo Edizioni); Philippe Sollers: 'L'écriture et l'experience des limites' (Editions du Seuil) See more »
Alternate Versions
Salo has had a colorful history with Australian censorship boards. It was banned in Australia for 18 years before being re-submitted for a classification with the Office of Film and Literature (OFLC) in December 1992. It was then banned again by the full board of classifiers. The distributor at the time, Premium Films, appealed the decision to the Classification Review Board in early 1993. This Review Board lifted the ban and granted it an uncut cinema release with an R rating. It enjoyed a stint at arthouse cinemas in 1993, and again in 1996. The conservative Queensland Attorney-General, who caught wind of this re-release, applied for a review of the film in 1997 with the OFLC. They initially confirmed its R rating. The Attorney-General, unhappy with this decision, applied to the Classification Review Board for a complete review of its classification. This Board decided to ban it again. A DVD version was submitted in 2010 and passed by the Classification board as an R18+ on the basis of "176 minutes of additional material of behind-the-scenes footage which served to give the film context and reinforce its fictional nature", and this R18+ was confirmed by the Classification Review Board. See more »
I strongly recommend this film to anyone over age 15. The main storyline is taken from De Sade and gives the story its elements of nihilism and sexual extravagance.
The setting in a rural villa outside the plagued Florence with prostitutes as storytelling muses is taken from Boccacio's Decameron, the first book written in Italian and not in Latin, thus beeing one of the indicators of the italian renaissance. The renaissance allowed the focus to somewhat move from God towards Man.
The film is furthermore divided into sections, called circles, which is a direct parallell to Dante's Divine Comedy. This may be the second most important book after the Bible and describes a journey from the Purgatory, through the deepest caves of the Inferno, that finally ends in Heaven.
This is the literary fond of the story: De Sades lust, Boccacios splendid, isolated, depraved bourgeoise and Dantes symbolic re-birth and claims for his loved one Beatrice. I would also add a biblical-galenical flirt with the four "apocalyptic" body fluids, even if Pasolini uses s*** instead of gall.
The Boccacio villa is moved to the late WW2 Salo republic in Italy, where Mussolini had his last stronghold. The orchestrators of the ritual orgys that are to take place is party of middle aged men (a metaphor for the society?), deeply devoted to their mission to set up a blasphemic drama. The actors are kidnapped youths that are brought to the stage partly as decoration (objects) and partly to be actors in the play (subjects). However, as the individuals seek the transition from object to subject, they walk a thin line. The climax of the drama is the cleaning process (the punishment in the yard) where disobedience and breaking of rules must be paid for. Of course with lethal consequnces. In the play directed by the Libertins there are only black and white, and the only way to pay for your sins is with death. Of course the rules are totally inverted from the standards of society: Right is wrong.
Pasolini follows in his graphical expression the latin theater tradition, a direct communication with the audience. Pasolini wants to draw things to their ultimate end. Thats why he have to use the very strong ingredients that he does. Well, pehaps he could have made it less extreme but I believe that he did'nt want to compromise the least. Therefore this film deserves the uttermost respect.
See it, be disgusted if you must, but then ask yourself why you react like you do. If the sheer thought of the film fills you with repugnancy, then behold that your body contains both blood and s***, and realize that what is considered as insanities and atrocities today may be the norm of society tomorrow. Then ask yourself again why this is an important film and a milestone in the art of filmmaking.
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I strongly recommend this film to anyone over age 15. The main storyline is taken from De Sade and gives the story its elements of nihilism and sexual extravagance.
The setting in a rural villa outside the plagued Florence with prostitutes as storytelling muses is taken from Boccacio's Decameron, the first book written in Italian and not in Latin, thus beeing one of the indicators of the italian renaissance. The renaissance allowed the focus to somewhat move from God towards Man.
The film is furthermore divided into sections, called circles, which is a direct parallell to Dante's Divine Comedy. This may be the second most important book after the Bible and describes a journey from the Purgatory, through the deepest caves of the Inferno, that finally ends in Heaven.
This is the literary fond of the story: De Sades lust, Boccacios splendid, isolated, depraved bourgeoise and Dantes symbolic re-birth and claims for his loved one Beatrice. I would also add a biblical-galenical flirt with the four "apocalyptic" body fluids, even if Pasolini uses s*** instead of gall.
The Boccacio villa is moved to the late WW2 Salo republic in Italy, where Mussolini had his last stronghold. The orchestrators of the ritual orgys that are to take place is party of middle aged men (a metaphor for the society?), deeply devoted to their mission to set up a blasphemic drama. The actors are kidnapped youths that are brought to the stage partly as decoration (objects) and partly to be actors in the play (subjects). However, as the individuals seek the transition from object to subject, they walk a thin line. The climax of the drama is the cleaning process (the punishment in the yard) where disobedience and breaking of rules must be paid for. Of course with lethal consequnces. In the play directed by the Libertins there are only black and white, and the only way to pay for your sins is with death. Of course the rules are totally inverted from the standards of society: Right is wrong.
Pasolini follows in his graphical expression the latin theater tradition, a direct communication with the audience. Pasolini wants to draw things to their ultimate end. Thats why he have to use the very strong ingredients that he does. Well, pehaps he could have made it less extreme but I believe that he did'nt want to compromise the least. Therefore this film deserves the uttermost respect.
See it, be disgusted if you must, but then ask yourself why you react like you do. If the sheer thought of the film fills you with repugnancy, then behold that your body contains both blood and s***, and realize that what is considered as insanities and atrocities today may be the norm of society tomorrow. Then ask yourself again why this is an important film and a milestone in the art of filmmaking.