Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

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.

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writer:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Paolo Bonacelli, Laura Betti, Giorgio Cataldi

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paolo Bonacelli	...	The Duke
Giorgio Cataldi	...	The Bishop
Umberto Paolo Quintavalle	...	The Magistrate (as Umberto P. Quintavalle)
Aldo Valletti	...	The President
Caterina Boratto	...	Signora Castelli
Elsa De Giorgi	...	Signora Maggi
Hélène Surgère	...	Signora Vaccari (as Helene Surgere)
Sonia Saviange	...	The Pianist
Sergio Fascetti	...	Male Victim
Bruno Musso	...	Carlo Porro - Male Victim
Antonio Orlando	...	Tonino - Male Victim
Claudio Cicchetti	...	Male Victim
Franco Merli	...	Male Victim
Umberto Chessari	...	Male Victim
Lamberto Book	...	Lamberto Gobbi - Male Victim

Storyline

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

banned film | female frontal nudity | voyeur | nipples | rough sex | 

---

Taglines:

Direct from the New York Film Festival showing

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | War

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian French German

Release Date:

19 May 1976 (France)

Also Known As:

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Filming Locations:

Salò, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA),Les Productions Artistes Associés

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In at least three scenes, when the four "villains" enter a room, they walk over a beam of light that's coming from outside.

---

Goofs

In the beginning of the film a 1948 Fiat 500 B can be seen.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[four men, sitting at a table, each sign a booklet]
The Duke: Your Excellency.
The Magistrate: Mr. President.
The President: My lord.
The Bishop: All's good if it's excessive.

---

Crazy Credits

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)

---

Alternate Versions

The film was rejected for cinema by the BBFC in 1976 and a private showing of the uncut version at the Old Compton Cinema Club in London's Soho resulted in a police raid and confiscation of the movie. A heavily edited version - minus 6 minutes of footage including scenes of torture, homosexuality and excrement eating, and including a 4 minute prologue describing the history of the town of Salo - was later prepared by UK censor for club showings. The film was finally passed completely uncut for cinema and video in the UK in December 2000.

---

Connections

Featured in The Cinema Snob: Demented Death Farm Massacre (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Pastorale in F major, BWV 590
(uncredited)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

Don't judge this film too quickly.

It appears most people find this movie to be sick, pointless, and without substance. That's unfair.

This is the strongest movie I've ever seen, and it made an IMPORTANT impression on me, a big horrorflick-devotee. It made me question a lot of things about former favourite films, and made me realize how sick it is to make horror and violence into entertainment. The problem with most movies is that violence is not portrayed violent enough, horror isn't portrayed horrible enough. Most 'thriller' films have these ingredients softened so that people can enjoy it, and THAT'S sick. This movie is SANE. It shows horror and violence as it IS - totally revolting and disgusting.

I sat as on needles for 1 hour 40 minutes, and felt really bad watching this film. It grossed me out, but I understood why this film is both good and important. It gives a sane perspective on violence, as opposed to SICK, SICK Hollywood-action where people get killed by 'heroes' and nobody raises an eyebrow.