Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom) (1975)

I first learned of a film that depicted the most horrendous acts of mankind with a artistic nonchalantness my final year in school. I could not believe that something so crazy had actually been produced, and i needed to see it. I purchased it soon after learning about its raw emotion and a well defined lack of concern, ended up being a bad bootleg, lost it (couldnt complain here really), but then this pox of a film was reissued by Criterion a few months ago, so i decided to pick up an actual copy of it, and i've seen a lot of things in my time, but this definetley takes the cake of just being the most deplorable piece of simulated hatred i have ever seen.

Killed just days before Salò's offical release, Pier Paolo Pasolini takes a story that is already saturated with things that aren't something that anyone should be proud of acting out (let alone write about it) and adds an all too familiar current day tone. A film so attrocious that the screenwriter has yet to see the movie he helped craft, and the multiple countries banning this film along the years only adds to the power of this social outcry.


On to the actual film. This is a downward spiral from beginning to end, there are no breaks in the constant skew of humanity. There is no pause or time to catch your breath, this is a constant barrage on everything we, as civilized people, hold sacred. The idea of seeing the majority of the movie from far in the distance was done on purpose. Pasolini wanted there to be thread of empathy for the actors on scree, he wanted us to all see what was happening as if we were there ourselves. There is no room to mourn or try and get an understanding of what is going on, this is the lowest of the low and Pasolini want all to know this.

To furthermore add to the unique quality of this film, the actors were kept in the dark about what was to be shot the next day until minutes before shooting actually began, so most of the reactions (and the young girl vomitting in the circle of shit) are real, these young people do not know what they stepped into and it is clearly showing in the faces. They are essentially degrading themselves in the name of art, and it is some of the strongest commitment i have ever seen in a movie.


This film offer no hope for redimption, you are not able to feel sorry for anyone involved in this film and you can't help but fail at trying to seperate yourself from the men commiting such acts, as you are just another pair of voyuristic eyes watching. The only redeeming quality this film has going for it is that it does in fact end eventually, but not as the credits roll, this film will resonate with you for days to come, never really leaving you no matter how much you try.