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Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) N
Four libertines in fascist Italy take bunch of boys and girls with them as they enclose themselves in a mansion for 120 days of orgies and torture.
It's been a long time since I've read de Sade and I've never read The 120 Days of Sodom completely (only the introduction has been translated to Finnish but the English translation is on my read list). As far as I remember Pasolini does retain the spirit of the books quite well even though his vision is (for obvious reasons) quite a bit more tame.
Salò is about the abuse of power and how enough (or too much) power makes one immune to consequences. It's about how such immunity tends to remove restraints and how humanity at its core is cruel and selfish, only kept in check by the fear of punishment. And how people turn the blind eye or actively participate in all sorts of atrocities if it benefits their position. Salò is extremely nihilistic movie.
I don't value Pasolini that much as a director and Salò is in many ways clumsy film. For the most parts it's just filmed theater with awkward pacing and occasionally bad acting. It doesn't explain the motives for its characters (unlike de Sade in his book, I'd remember) and it completely lacks the flamboyance of de Sade. It gets its message through though and it has its good moments so I can't say it's bad movie.
Four libertines in fascist Italy take bunch of boys and girls with them as they enclose themselves in a mansion for 120 days of orgies and torture.
It's been a long time since I've read de Sade and I've never read The 120 Days of Sodom completely (only the introduction has been translated to Finnish but the English translation is on my read list). As far as I remember Pasolini does retain the spirit of the books quite well even though his vision is (for obvious reasons) quite a bit more tame.
Salò is about the abuse of power and how enough (or too much) power makes one immune to consequences. It's about how such immunity tends to remove restraints and how humanity at its core is cruel and selfish, only kept in check by the fear of punishment. And how people turn the blind eye or actively participate in all sorts of atrocities if it benefits their position. Salò is extremely nihilistic movie.
I don't value Pasolini that much as a director and Salò is in many ways clumsy film. For the most parts it's just filmed theater with awkward pacing and occasionally bad acting. It doesn't explain the motives for its characters (unlike de Sade in his book, I'd remember) and it completely lacks the flamboyance of de Sade. It gets its message through though and it has its good moments so I can't say it's bad movie.