Pier Paolo Pasolini s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker s transposition of the Marquis de Sade s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
The End of Salò, a 40-minute documentary about the film s final scene
Salò: Yesterday and Today, a 35-minute documentary featuring interviews with Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini s friend Nineto Davoli
Fade to Black, a new short documentary about Salò, featuring interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury
New interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and filmmaker/film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
Theatrical trailer
Optional English subtitles
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Neil Bartlett, Roberto Chiesi, Naomi Greene, Gary Indiana, and Sam Rohdie, and excerpts from Gideon Bachman s on-set diary
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Customer Reviews
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Sad Sick Shocking Hateful Powerful
I held off watching Salo for a long time. In fact, I was going to skip it altogether in my quest to watch every Criterion Collection movie. I finally watched it, fully expecting it to make my head explode. Well, it didn't make my head explode but I did gag several times during the forced merde eating scenes. The movie filled with nudity and sex but is quite possibly the least erotic movie I've ever seen. If anything, the movie is anti-eroticism.
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<br />There are various interpretations of the movie. The consensus seems to be that Pasolini was trying to portray the horrors of facism. Actually, I can't help but see a bitter rant against the darkest impulses of mankind. In Salo, we see the inmates running the asylum. The crazy people, made even crazier with power, torture the sane in a world turned morally upside-down.
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<br />That Salo is appalling is obvious. It is meant to be. Few mainstream movies are this blunt in thier intention to offend. The movie watches as two hours of pure undistilled hate and evil. The movie is extremely well-made. Most movies, I can't remember an hour after seeing. Powerful and provacative, Salo has stayed with me for weeks. I'm not giving Salo five stars because I enjoyed it. Who would enjoy this besides violent pedophiles? Sometimes, there's more to watching and understanding a movie than a simplistic enjoyed/dislike evaluation. Salo cannot be judged by a thumbs up or down. I'm giving it five stars because it was well and bravely made and itmade me think and feel and react.
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Good, Good, Good
I,ve wanted to see this sence the sixties. It was more than I expected.
<br /> Friends who study Psychology Love it.
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