Saló or the 120 days of Sodom

Saló or the 120 days of Sodom (in Italian, Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma), also referred to simply as Saló (Italian pronunciation: /saˈlɔ/ ), is a 1975 art-horror film by the Italian poet, essayist, writer and film director Pier Paolo Pasolini. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1785 book The 120 Days of Sodom, by the Marquis de Sade. Set during World War II, it was Pasolini's last work.

This film was going to be the first film in a trilogy known as the "Trilogy of Death", which was preceded by the "Trilogy of Life" (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and The Thousand and One Nights). The project was interrupted by the assassination of Pasolini.

Origin

Pasolini spent part of his youth in the Republic of Saló. During this time, he witnessed cruelties by the Italian army. Many of his memories led to the conceptualization of Saló. Pasolini proclaimed the film to be highly symbolic and metaphorical; An example of this is the scene in which they eat feces, which would be a protest against mass-produced food, which he calls "useless garbage."

Argument

Saló takes place in the Republic of Saló, in northern Italy, during the years 1944 and 1945, during the Nazi occupation. The film is divided into four segments inspired by the Inferno from the poem The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri: Anteinfierno, Circle of Manias, < i>Circle of shit and Circle of blood.

Four powerful men, called the President, the Duke, the Bishop and the Magistrate, agree to marry to his daughters in a libertine ritual. With the help of several collaborators, they kidnap eighteen young people (nine men and nine women) and take them to a palace near Marzabotto. They are accompanied by four ex-prostitutes, also collaborators, whose function will be to tell stories that excite powerful men, who will then sexually and sadistically exploit their victims.

The film presents 3 of the 120 days spent in the palace, during which time the four powerful men conceive increasingly aberrant torture and humiliation, for their own pleasure.

Antehell

The shortest section of the film, which shows the capture of the young people and a speech given by the Duke to the victims, where he informs them of the rules to follow inside the castle, as well as reminding them that no one knows that there They meet, because for history they are already dead. Then the film goes to the Circle of Manias where things get worse.

Circle of Manias

Led by Mrs. Vaccari, one of the prostitutes. This tells stories taken from the first part of Sade's novel, none of which include penetration. A scene stands out in which the victims appear naked, only on dog leashes, and are forced to eat meat off the ground. Later, one of the daughters is given a muffin full of needles used by phonographs at the time the film takes place.

Circle of Shit

Several characters argue about having murdered their mothers and also about the fact that nothing is owed to the mother simply for having fornicated with a man, a typical Sade theme. One of the victims can be heard crying, saddened because her mother was killed when she was captured. She is then forced to eat the Duke's feces. This incites Mrs. Maggi, the prostitute on duty, to tell the toilet stories, which delight the gentlemen. Young people are prohibited from "downloading" for a full day, so that at the end their feces will be served at a great banquet. The coprophagy used in the film is apparently a metaphor for mass-produced foods. As a curiosity, the stools were created with chocolate sauce and orange marmalade.

In addition, there is a contest for the best butts, where the winner would supposedly die on the spot. The 'winner', Franco, is scared with an unloaded gun. This end of the Circle of Shit foreshadows the horrors of the next segment.

Circle of Blood

The stories of the prostitutes are minimal and related by Mrs. Castelli. A gay wedding is celebrated between some soldiers and three of the four gentlemen, officiated by the Bishop. A soldier seduces the latter and they have sex. Then, the Bishop goes to inspect the victims in their rooms, where each one betrays the other: a lesbian romance is discovered, a hidden photograph, and finally, an affair between a young collaborator and the black maid, so both they are killed; Before they are shot, the collaborator raises his fist, like the communist salute, and with his strong gaze and his naked body he scares the superiors. Later, the victims who decided not to collaborate with their attackers and their daughters are tortured in various gruesome ways, before being murdered: raped, skinned, branded with penises, burned nipples, with tongues and eyes removed. Those who did collaborate, on condition that they continue to do so, are taken with the lords to Saló.

Epilogue

The last scene of the film portrays the indifference, desensitization to violence and conformism of the masses: two collaborators who are in a tower monitoring everything that happens complain about the screams, so one of them turns on the radio and a waltz begins. The first admits that what he wants to do when the war ends is "dance a waltz with his girlfriend Margarita", but he says that he doesn't know how to dance. The second collaborator offers to teach him, and they both start dancing together, while the waltz drowns out the screams in the background.

Controversy

Controversy over the film exists to this day, with many people praising the film for its fearlessness and willingness to contemplate the unthinkable, while others roundly condemn it for being a pretentious exploitation film.

The film has been banned in several countries due to its graphic portrayal of rape, torture and murder, and its involvement of minors. It was banned in Australia in 1976, allowed in 1993 and recensed in 1998.

Versions

There are several versions of the film. It was originally 145 minutes long, but Pasolini himself removed 25 minutes to help maintain the pace. The longest version available is the widely sold DVD produced by the BFI, which includes a brief scene usually not included in other copies, in which, during the first wedding ceremony, one of the teachers quotes a poem by Gottfried Benn.

The rights to distribute the film in the United States (and most of the world) are held by MGM.