LE NOTTI DI CABIRIA, 1957 - NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (co.sc., uncredited, dir. by Federico Fellini)
ACCATTONE, 1961 - Pummi
MAMMA ROMA, 1962 - Mamma Roma
ROGOPAG, 1963 (with Rosselini, Godard, and Gregoretti, the episode 'La Ricotta')
LA RABBIA, 1963
COMIZI D'AMORE, SOPRALLUOGHI IN PALESTINA (1964)
IL VANGELO SECONDO MATTEO, 1964 - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW - Matteuksen evankeliumi
LE STREGHE, 1966 - THE WITCHES (ep. LA TERRA VISTA DALLA LUNA)
UCCELANI ET UCCELINI, 1966 - HAWKS AND SPARROWS - Haukat ja varpuset
EDIPO RE, 1967 - OIDIPUS REX
TEOREMA, 1968 - THEOREM - Teorema
CAPRICCIO ALL'ITALIANA, 1968 (ep. CHE COSA SONO LE NUVOLE?)
AMORE E RABBIA, 1968 (ep. LA SEQUENZA DEL FIORE DI CARTA)
PORCILE, 1969 - PIGSTRY - Sikol?tti
MEDEA, 1970
IL DECAMERON, 1971 - THE DECAMERON - Decamerone
RACCONTI DE CANTERBURY, 1972 - THE CANTERBURY TALES - Canterburyn tarinoita
12 DICEMBRE, 1972
LE MURA DI SANA'A (1973)
IL FIORE DELLE MILLE E UNA NOTTE, 1974 - ARABIAN NIGHTS - Tuhat ja yksi y?t?
SALò O LE CENTOVENTI GIORNATE DI SODOMA, 1975 - SALO OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM, based on Marquis de Sade's novel

Biography for Pier Paolo Pasolini

Pier Paolo Pasolini achieved fame and notoriety long before he entered the film industry - a published poet at 19, he had already written numerous novels and essays before his first screenplay in 1954. His first film Accattone (1961) was based on his own novel, and its violent depiction of the life of a pimp in the slums of Rome caused a sensation. He was arrested in 1962 when his contribution to the portmanteau film Ro.Go.Pa.G. (1963) was considered blasphemous, and given a suspended sentence. It might have been expected that his next film, Vangelo secondo Matteo, Il (1964) (The Gospel According to St.Matthew), which presented the Biblical story in a totally realistic, stripped-down style, would cause a similar fuss, but in fact it was rapturously acclaimed as one of the few honest portrayals of Christ on screen (its original Italian title pointedly omitted the Saint in St. Matthew). Pasolini's film career would then alternate distinctly personal (and often scandalously erotic adaptations of classic literary texts) Edipo re (1967/I) (Oedipus Rex), Decameron, Il (1971), Racconti di Canterbury, I (1972) (The Canterbury Tales), Fiore delle mille e una notte, Il (1974) (Arabian Nights) with his own more personal projects, expressing his controversial views on Marxism, atheism, fascism and homosexuality, notably Teorema (1968) (Theorem), Pigsty and the notorious Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1976) (Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom), a relentlessly grim fusion of Mussolini's Fascist Italy with the Marquis de Sade which was banned in Italy (and many other countries) for several years. Pasolini was murdered in still-mysterious circumstances shortly after completing the film.

Overview

Director:Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:Pier Paolo Pasolini (screenplay) and
Sergio Citti (screenplay) ...
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Release Date:January 1976 (Italy) more
Genre:Drama / Horror / War more
Tagline:The 120 Days of Sodom more
Plot Outline:Four fascist libertines round up 9 teenages boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental and sexual torture. more
Plot Synopsis:This plot synopsis is empty. Add a synopsis
Plot Keywords:Bodyguard / Sadomasochism / Prostitute / Surreal / Teenager Nudity more

Additional Details

Also Known As:Salo ou les 120 journées de Sodome (France)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (International: English title)
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Parents Guide:View content advisory for parents
Runtime:116 min / Argentina:112 min / USA:115 min
Country:Italy / France
Language:Italian / French / German
Color:Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:Mono

Synopsis

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. Written by {andrewm@kbss.bt.co.uk} (See here)

I chose to open this review with the above quote not only because it's from Sade's The 120 Days of Sodom, the very book that served as the basis for the Pier Pasolini film we're about to discuss, but also because it serves as perhaps the only logical defense for a film that's as disturbing, reprehensible, and morally bankrupt as SALO: The 120 Days of Sodom. Like Sade's infamous novel (which was written on a long roll of paper while he was imprisoned in the Bastille and never published during his lifetime) Pasolini's film is a nihilistically bleak look into the heart of man. And while on the surface, it seems to have little to no redeeming value whatsoever, in actuality it's a complex film that examines not only the darkness within us, but also our own passivity that allows tyrants like those featured in the film and novel to commit their atrocities. Still, in spite of these lofty artistic aspirations, many have chosen to dismiss the film as little more than elaborately filmed exploitation and condemn those who champion it - and it is to those critics that I offer the divine Marquis' thoughts on the matter.

Drawing on Sade's source material, but updating it and making it his own, Pasolini's (MEDEA, THE CANTERBURY TALES) SALO is the story of four aristocratic noblemen during World War II. These four individuals: the Duc, the President, the Bishop, and the Magistrate, conceive an elaborate plan to kidnap eighteen teenagers and abscond with them to an isolated mountain retreat, taking along their own daughters (who the four main characters have swapped and taken as wives), an entourage of guards, and four prostitutes.

Once there, they will spend the next 120 days listening to stories from the prostitutes. Each prostitute has a different specialty — one tells of simple sexual passions, another tells more outré sexual fare (i.e. coprophilia, etc.), yet another tells tales of torture, and so on. Each libertine has a small entourage, which he can use as he pleases as the stories fan the flames of his desires. What ensues is a nightmarish vision of subjugation, degradation, and destruction of the human spirit as the four libertines continually assault their captives in order to procure their own pleasure.

The film's performances are diverse and quite interesting. Most of the cast was comprised of people with no prior acting experience. This makes for an intriguing visual juxtaposition, particularly in the film's teen characters. These untrained actors are tabula razas throughout most of the film - never quite emoting anything despite the severity of their situation. In a different film, this might have been a hindrance, but since Pasolini's making a statement on the nature of apathy and fascism, it actually strengthens the movie.

Equally impressive are the four "heroes" of the film. Paolo Bonacelli (THE STENDHAL SYNDROME) turns in a particularly fine performance as the Duc. He's menacing and intriguing, often in the same scene. Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Quintavalle, and Aldo Valletti (who play the Bishop, the President, and the Magistrate respectively) turn in solid performances as well - leering and delighting in the atrocities that they're perpetrating throughout the film.

Pasolini's direction is inspired. Much of the film is shot in a very static fashion - with a camera in a set position recording the events in the room with little or no movement. It gives the proceedings a documentary style feel that makes the film even more disturbing. Pasolini also manages to build tension throughout the movie: from the film's opening segment, "The Circle of Obsessions" onto the disturbing "Circle of Shit" and concluding with the orgy of murders in the "Circle of Blood", Pasolini continually keeps the atrocity level rising ever higher - even when it seems that things can get no worse, they do.

The film's certainly not for the squeamish or the easily offended. In SALO, rape and sodomy are fairly pedestrian peccadilloes. Viewers are treated to a multitude of perversions, including feces eating, bloodletting, scalpings, and finally brutal murder. This film is guaranteed to gross out even the most hardcore of viewers at some point.

Gruesome subject matter aside, Pasolini has a point. Much of the film's gore and violence is filmed at a distance, or takes place slightly offscreen, which allows the viewer to imagine events even worse than Pasolini could have filmed. When the film finally reaches the violent murders of its final act, the Duc watches the slaughter from a room above the killing fields, viewing it through binoculars - distancing himself from what gives him pleasure, but still delighting in it nonetheless. Pasolini also makes it fairly clear that he's indicting his audience and their passivity in watching this scene as well. The fact that these terrible acts are committed and viewed at a distance, without sound, makes them even more visceral and disturbing.

Surprisingly enough, the film is quite faithful to Sade’s five-hundred page novel until the final act. Many of the simple passions from the novel are recounted here, and it's only in the film's final act that Pasolini stakes out into territory that's solely his own.

Sadly, this would be the last film Pasolini would direct as a young male prostitute murdered him shortly after SALO's completion.

In the end, SALO: The 120 Days of Sodom is a powerful, visceral, disturbing film that looks into the darkest corners of the human psyche and never flinches from what it uncovers. Yes, it's exploitative, but it's also an artistic film made by a filmmaker who wanted to confront the complacency of both mainstream cinema as well as humankind. Few can look back on Sade's novel or Pasolini's film with fond memories, but even fewer would admit to not being affected by their savage vision. It is for this reason that anyone who's serious about film should see SALO: The 120 Days of Sodom. I give it nothing less than my highest recommendation (more)

Pasolini's adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's 18th century novel places the action during WWII in Italy, where Fascist rulers brutalize and debauch 16 adolescent girls and boys. Pasolini's last film, soundly condemned at the time of its release by Italian censors. (more)