Salo le 120 giornate di Sodoma

[Pangur Bán]

Salo le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom):


From an e-review

"There’s no doubt that this Pasolini adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom belongs in the top 10 [horror films of all time]. This film features sodomy, coprophilia, and ritual murder—as well as being a serious condemnation of fascism. Four libertines kidnap a group of young teenagers and take them to an isolated mountain retreat. Then, for the next four months, they humiliate, assault, degrade, and ultimately destroy them. Pasolini leaves nearly no perversion out of this film—which is so extreme that it’s almost the Bataan death march of film viewing. You know you’re hardcore if you dig this film."

I just watched this disgusting piece of filth How on earth was the sick guy who created this allowed to. Condemnation of fascism by butt. I don't see how all the graphic shots of sodomy, forced jobby consumption, pee-drinking, eye gouging, and mutilation condemns fascism.

I mean, with films like Man Bite Dog and Gummo, I kinda got the justification. But here...here there was none.

I have a liberal attitude for the arts, but I draw the line a sick-man fantasies disguised as more purposeful pieces!

Tell me if you disagree. I'm sure a few of you have already been subjected to this film...

 

[WickedSmurf]

I haven't seen it but now I really want to....

 

[SanPellegrino]

Pasolini was totally crazy, all his films are a bit weird

 

[Akka]

The Marquis de Sade wasn't exactly mentally healthy either ^^

 

[Stapel]

Though I had to watch it with a small pan on my leep, in case I had to , and didn't exactly enjoy it, I have a more 'nuancated' view on it.

The film is a historical, sociological phenomenon!
It is Pier Paolo Pasolini's final pay-of with Mussolini's fascism. He tried to do so by shifting the book (Les 120 journées de Sodome by the Marquis de Sade) to 1945 Salo. Salo is the village where Mussolini went to after being removed from power.

The film, "Salò, o le 120 giornate di Sodoma" (o means or), was published after the murder on Pasolini in 1975. In 1949 Pasolini was removed from the Italian communist party, for having sex with a young boy......

It is sick, but it is there! No reason to hide it!

 

[Eklektikos]

I think I'm going to make sure I check this film out sometime. Not sure how I've managed to remain unaware of such an intriguing sounding piece of work for so long...

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Eklektikos
I think I'm going to make sure I check this film out sometime. Not sure how I've managed to remain unaware of such an intriguing sounding piece of work for so long...

You were unaware of both the film and the book? Or just the film?
Or didn't you know the Marquis of Sade at all? Afaik, the word sadism comes from his name.

 

[polymath]

Correct Stapel, re Sadism.

 

[addiv]

I didn't find this film so shocking, of course it is quite sick, but I see no reason to forbid it. Everything should be possible in making 'art', as long as the 'artists' don't commit a crime by doing so.

 

[MCdread]

I've seen this film. For many moments I thought I was gonna , and I think I even had to switch channel in some part. I can't say I liked it (on the contrary), but then again, it's just a Pasolini film.

 

[Eklektikos]

Originally posted by Stapel


You were unaware of both the film and the book? Or just the film?
Or didn't you know the Marquis of Sade at all? Afaik, the word sadism comes from his name.

I was aware of the Marquis and of his writings, but not that any had been filmed.

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Eklektikos

I was aware of the Marquis and of his writings, but not that any had been filmed.

As I expected .

 

[Bozo Erectus]

I dont watch disgusting, filth like this. Watching people get tortured and brutalised makes me feel victimised myself. I derive no pleasure from watching other peoples pain and suffering, on the contrary, it makes me physically ill. People who enjoy watching this type of film should consult with a psychologist.

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by Dumb pothead
I dont watch disgusting, filth like this. Watching people get tortured and brutalised makes me feel victimised myself. I derive no pleasure from watching other peoples pain and suffering, on the contrary, it makes me physically ill. People who enjoy watching this type of film should consult with a psychologist.

There are other reasons to watch a film (perticularily this film) than seeking joy.....

For the rest, I agree.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Originally posted by Stapel
There are other reasons to watch a film (perticularily this film) than seeking joy.....

For the rest, I agree.

Its possible to make a powerfull statement about torture without actually showing the torture to the extent that they apparently do in this film. Its like saying that you want to educate people about the horrors of rape by actually filming rape scenes explicitly, showing close ups of forced penetration, etc, I wont go on. A film like that would be porn, plain and simple. This film sounds like sick voyuerism, nothing more.

 

[Mescalhead]

I heard the same sorts of things about Cannibal Holocaust, but that film was more fun. A bunch of indigenous Amazon tribes feasting on white antagonistic travellers. The funny part was that the natives all had "Moe" hair, the bowl cut. I heard that many people believe that the impaled woman was real. They even had to go to court for this and the movie was banned in a few countries including the U.S. Anyone know any more? I don't trust websites for such info.

 

[JonathanValjean]

Definitivamente non voglio vedere questa pellicola. (I definitely do not want to see this movie.) I thought I would answer in Italian, since the issue at hand is an Italian movie. First of all, let me say that Italian cinema is my favorite in all the world. This magnificient cinematic realm encompasses such gems as: "Ladri di Biciclette," "L'Avventura," "La Notte," "Il Nuovo Cinema Paradiso," "Fiorile," "Il Postino," "La Vita e' Bella," "La Stanza del Figlio." Italian cinema also lays claim to three of the best directors ever, in my opinion: Vittorio de Sica, Federico Fellini, and my favorite, Michelangelo Antonioni.

This Italian film, however, is an insult to film-making. How can a movie be enjoyable if it's main purpose is to shock someone senseless? I fully agree with you dumb pothead (you're not dumb at all!): in order to be made aware of atrocious acts, one does NOT have to be graphically exposed to them. Your comparison to rape is quite a powerful analogy. I have read only one review about this movie, and the reason I didn't read more reviews is that after reading that sole review, I was quite sick to my stomach. My mind was made up, never will I subject myself to such trash. To this lover of World Cinema, the day on which this film was released was one of the darkest days in all of film-making.

 

[thestonesfan]

coooooool

 

[Dr. Dr. Doktor]

Actually there probably is some connection between sadism and fascism. I remember reading of this incident when in Nazi Germany a bunch of SA thugs had captured a Jewish intellectual. After they had put him in a cell, and had beaten him to pulp and kicked out all his teeth, they looked to find some novel way of torture and humiliatiton, so what they did was that they stole this chimpanzee from a nearby laboratory. Believing that it was fierce, they let it out of it's cage inside the cell. To their chagrin the chimpanzee lept upon the victim only to cling lovingly to him and obviously in abject fear of the torturers. Infuriated they scrambled to dislodge the chimpanzee from the victim, and, and this is really sad, they began to torture the chimpanzee instead.

 

[jpowers]

I think Pasolini was murdered shortly after the film by a pack of movie critics