Pier Paolo Pasolini is a man that I consider as a fascinating director. "Salò: The 120 Days of Sodom" (Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma) was his last film. His most noticeable works include "Porcile" and "The Gospel According To St.Matthew. Well, I would like to be clearer on this point, and I'll say that the word "noticeable" here is a synonym of "best". On the other hand, though, I would say that Salò is truly his most talked-about film, if you thought I meant that by noticed. The film is good, but I really preferred the two mentionned above, artistically and intellectually speaking. But Salò has its qualities, even though some of us might consider them as flaws.
Salò is based on the Marquis de Sade's novel, entitled "Les 120 journees de Sodome". The book (of course, it was written way before the fascist period in Italy!) doesn't talk about fascism, and the main common point between the film and the book is the main concept. The film shows the horrors inflicted to a bunch of young and beautiful people that were selected by four sadistic (what a funny use of the word!) fascists that are only willing to quench their own brutal sexual and violent thirsts. They are taken to a villa where the are submitted to the worst humiliations, which include being raped whenever the four masters feel the desire to have sex, eating feces, and later on being brutally tortured and killed.
This film is recognized for being one of the sickest of all times, one of the most disgusting also. Well, the "shocking content" mostly consists of constant nudity of young adults, many rapes, excrement-eating, scalping, tongue mutilation, and eye gouging. There are also pretty nasty stories told by a lady whose role in the villa is to tell sick stories that have for goal to turn on the four masters. I saw movies that were more disgusting than that, sincerely. The context and the cruelty surrounding many acts of violence and humiliation in this film are probably the main reason why it shocked so many people. The sexuality is never explicit (in the way that you never see a penetration graphically), the killings are pretty well done (the scalping especially) but there are very few of them and they are brief. I would say that "Caligula" is way more graphic and shocking than "Salò" (but less effective though).
Pasolini's directing is beautiful. He made a mistake in one scene, changing the angle of the camera of less than 30 degrees between two shots. Except for that, he's fascinating...he's obsessed with showing symmetrical images...all the time. This technique somehow communicates the "discipline" and the supposedly high "straightness" of the fascists pretended to have. Also, the camera often has a pretty wide vision, and we don't often really get close to any character. With such coldness, Pasolini was criticized a lot. People didn't know if it was really a statement against fascism or just a good reason to show horrible things...Personnally, knowing a couple of things about Pasolini's life, I didn't doubt one moment about his intentions. Yes, he had socialist tendencies, yes, he was a homosexual (which fascists hated) and yes, he was against fascism, and it is clear when you see the film. People who only watch American films and are used to explicit messages in films will not understand that, but this film plundges us into cruelty we could have really compared to the nazis', and that's how it delivers its message. Maybe too subtle for some, but sometimes, I think it's better this way...just like in most American movies...an example: American History X talks about racism..."Racism is bad" is almost written on the walls...it's very sanctimonious, it's really not subtle...but there are movies where they only show horrible things the way they really are, without really giving a judgement in an explicit way...I think it even works better. I am a bit tired of moralizers, to be honest.
The acting is very good. Also, I got the French Limited DVD of this film...that's the best edition, trust me! The audio tracks are in french (which Pasolini considered should have been the original language of this film, because it was the Marquis de Sade's and also the original Italian track. The one in french is amazing, really. There are also lots of extras, this is really a must-have. The actors, especially the four fascists, are extremely cold and creepy...Pasolini did a good job directing them.
Overall, the film takes a very neutral approach to the horrors it displays, but that's effective. Sure, this is not a perfect movie, it has pretty slow moments and it is not that well structured, but it achieves its goal, which is to make a statement against fascism.
8/10
Salò is based on the Marquis de Sade's novel, entitled "Les 120 journees de Sodome". The book (of course, it was written way before the fascist period in Italy!) doesn't talk about fascism, and the main common point between the film and the book is the main concept. The film shows the horrors inflicted to a bunch of young and beautiful people that were selected by four sadistic (what a funny use of the word!) fascists that are only willing to quench their own brutal sexual and violent thirsts. They are taken to a villa where the are submitted to the worst humiliations, which include being raped whenever the four masters feel the desire to have sex, eating feces, and later on being brutally tortured and killed.
This film is recognized for being one of the sickest of all times, one of the most disgusting also. Well, the "shocking content" mostly consists of constant nudity of young adults, many rapes, excrement-eating, scalping, tongue mutilation, and eye gouging. There are also pretty nasty stories told by a lady whose role in the villa is to tell sick stories that have for goal to turn on the four masters. I saw movies that were more disgusting than that, sincerely. The context and the cruelty surrounding many acts of violence and humiliation in this film are probably the main reason why it shocked so many people. The sexuality is never explicit (in the way that you never see a penetration graphically), the killings are pretty well done (the scalping especially) but there are very few of them and they are brief. I would say that "Caligula" is way more graphic and shocking than "Salò" (but less effective though).
Pasolini's directing is beautiful. He made a mistake in one scene, changing the angle of the camera of less than 30 degrees between two shots. Except for that, he's fascinating...he's obsessed with showing symmetrical images...all the time. This technique somehow communicates the "discipline" and the supposedly high "straightness" of the fascists pretended to have. Also, the camera often has a pretty wide vision, and we don't often really get close to any character. With such coldness, Pasolini was criticized a lot. People didn't know if it was really a statement against fascism or just a good reason to show horrible things...Personnally, knowing a couple of things about Pasolini's life, I didn't doubt one moment about his intentions. Yes, he had socialist tendencies, yes, he was a homosexual (which fascists hated) and yes, he was against fascism, and it is clear when you see the film. People who only watch American films and are used to explicit messages in films will not understand that, but this film plundges us into cruelty we could have really compared to the nazis', and that's how it delivers its message. Maybe too subtle for some, but sometimes, I think it's better this way...just like in most American movies...an example: American History X talks about racism..."Racism is bad" is almost written on the walls...it's very sanctimonious, it's really not subtle...but there are movies where they only show horrible things the way they really are, without really giving a judgement in an explicit way...I think it even works better. I am a bit tired of moralizers, to be honest.
The acting is very good. Also, I got the French Limited DVD of this film...that's the best edition, trust me! The audio tracks are in french (which Pasolini considered should have been the original language of this film, because it was the Marquis de Sade's and also the original Italian track. The one in french is amazing, really. There are also lots of extras, this is really a must-have. The actors, especially the four fascists, are extremely cold and creepy...Pasolini did a good job directing them.
Overall, the film takes a very neutral approach to the horrors it displays, but that's effective. Sure, this is not a perfect movie, it has pretty slow moments and it is not that well structured, but it achieves its goal, which is to make a statement against fascism.
8/10