Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
"Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma" (original title)

Four fascist libertines round up 9 teenages boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental and sexual torture.

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini, Sergio Citti (screenplay),

Stars:

Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Paolo Quintavalle

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	...	Male Victim
Antonio Orlando	...	Male Victim
Claudio Cicchetti	...	Male Victim
Franco Merli	...	Male Victim
Umberto Chessari	...	Male Victim
Lamberto Book	...	Male Victim

Storyline

Set in the Nazi-controlled, northern Italian state of Salo in 1944, four dignitaries round up sixteen perfect specimens of youth and take them together with guards, servants and studs to a palace near Marzabotto. In addition, there are four middle-aged women: three of whom recount arousing stories whilst the fourth accompanies on the piano. The story is largely taken up with their recounting the stories of Dante and De Sade: the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. Following this, the youths are executed whilst each libertine takes his turn as voyeur.

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Plot Keywords:

libertine | torture | blood | teenage boy | sexual torture | 

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Taglines:

The final vision of a controversial filmmaker

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian French German

Release Date:

10 January 1976 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Filming Locations:

Salò, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 1,786,578 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA), Les Productions Artistes Associés

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 145 min (premiere)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First part of Pier Paolo Pasolini's Trilogy of Death. The subsequent two parts were never filmed because Pasolini was murdered some months after he had finished this movie. The trilogy was intended as complementary to the previous Trilogy of Life, including The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and Arabian Nights.

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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.

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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)

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Connections

Referenced in Nekromantik (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Prelude in C minor"
Written by Frédéric Chopin

User Reviews

Fascism via De Sade

I'm going to keep this short. If you want to see Salo simply to see what all the hype is about, keep your $600. Or rent it. If you can find it. I happen to own the Criterion release that is now being ripped and sold on Ebay for $400-600 bucks. Is it worth it? No. Is any film? No. Is it an excellent film? Absolutely.

Try not to think of Pasolini's masterpiece as a shock-for-shock's sake project and you'll truly understand the horror that is Salo. While the depiction of violence, sodomy, corpophagia, eye-gouging, scalping, nipple burning with candles, etc. etc. is horrific it is Pasolini's treatment of the boys and girls that is much more horrifying.

The monsters that occupy this small space of two hours, the fascists, are more human that their victims. We are given no insight into the lives of these children, while we are shown at great length the heads of state personal histories and sadistic proclivities.

Salo has stood the test of time because of it's unflinching portrayal of human violence and idealism, and the fact that, as the Criterion collection states: "Moral redemption may be nothing but a myth." Be warned: for many, Salo is a film not easily shaken off after a single viewing.