Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – SLASH Filmfestival

Salò in the Italian Social Republic: in a castle, the gerarchi of the doomed ancien régime indulge in a very peculiar form of SM rule. Prisoners are raped, fed shit, and tortured—preferably to death. Incense wafts through the rooms and corridors. And thus was limbo made flesh and blood and sperm on Earth. This is Pasolini’s urgent warning about the state of the modern world. A global scandal half a century ago, the film is now beginning to look less like allegory and more like reportage. And because it pierces straight to the heart of the matter, it’s also the finest cinematic adaptation of Sade and Alighieri around. (Olaf Möller)

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Pier Paolo Pasolini

(1922–1975) was a writer, poet, and director who, despite a filmmaking career that lasted only fourteen years, is one of the most important figures in Italian cinema history. His principal themes were sexuality, spirituality, and power, which he addressed in his films, his debut being the drama Accatone (1961), which he cast with nonprofessional actors from the Roman suburbs. His powerful and equally provocative works include The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), Oedipus Rex (1967), Teorema (1968), Pigsty (1969), The Canterbury Tales (1972), and Arabian Nights (1975). Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) was the final film Pasolini was able to complete. He was murdered twenty days before it was released, and the case remains unsolved to this day.

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Pier Paolo Pasolini

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