In Collection
#1705
Seen It:
No
Italy / Italian
| Paolo Bonacelli |
The Duke |
| Giorgio Cataldi |
The Bishop |
| Umberto Paolo Quintavalle |
The Magistrate |
| Aldo Valletti |
The President |
| Caterina Boratto |
Signora Castelli |
| Elsa De Giorgi |
Signora Maggi |
| Hélène Surgère |
Signora Vaccari |
| Sonia Saviange |
The pianist |
| Sergio Fascetti |
Male Victim |
| Bruno Musso |
Male Victim |
| Laura Betti |
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| Franco Merli |
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| Marco Bellocchio |
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| Director |
Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| Producer |
Alberto Grimaldi; Alberto De Stefanis; Antonio Girasante |
| Writer |
Pupi Avati; Pier Paolo Pasolini; Marquis de Sade; Sergio Citti |
Salò or the 120 days of Sodom, takes place in the Republic of Salò, the Fascist state founded in the Nazi-occupied part of Italy in 1944. The plot is divided in four parts parallel to Dante's Inferno: Anteinferno, Circle of Manias, Circle of Feces, and the Circle of Blood. Four powerful men, a Duke, a Bishop, a Magistrate, and a President agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a perverted ceremony. Assisted by several collaborators, they abduct eighteen youngsters (nine young men and nine young women). They subsequently take them to a palace near Marzabotto. Four middle-aged prostitutes who are also collaborators accompany the group. Their function in the debauchery will be to narrate arousing stories for the men of power who will subsequently sadistically exploit their victims. The story depicts the many days at the palace, during which the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. A most infamous scene, shows a young woman forced to eat the feces of the Duke; later, the other victims are presented a giant meal of human feces. At story's end, the victims who chose to not collaborate with their fascist tormentors are gruesomely murdered: scalping, branding, tongue and eyes cut out; (see Franco Merli). The viewer is distanced from the grossest tortures, because they are viewed through binoculars. The story's final scene — two young, macho soldiers dancing a waltz, together — embodies Pasolini's vision of life and death: unflinching, dispassionate, yet, humane and (paradoxically) impassioned.
| Distributor |
Criterion |
| Edition |
Criterion Collection Spine |
| Barcode |
715515031028 |
| Region |
Region 1 |
| Release Date |
26/08/2008 |
| Packaging |
Keep Case |
| Screen Ratio |
Widescreen (1.85:1) |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Audio Tracks |
Dolby Digital Mono [Italian] |
| Layers |
Single Side, Dual Layer |
| No. of Disks/Tapes |
2 |
| Disc 1: |
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Disc One: - New, restored high-definition digital transfer - Optional English-dubbed soundtrack - Theatrical trailer Disc Two: - "Salo": Yesterday and Today, a 33-minute documentary featuring interviews with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini friend Ninetto Davoli - Fade to Black, a 23-minute documentary featuring directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury, as well as scholar David Forgacs - The End of "Salo", a 40-minute documentary about the film's production - New interviews with production designer Dante Ferretti and director and film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Neil Bartlett, Catherine Breillat, Naomi Greene, Sam Rohdie, Roberto Chiesi, and Gary Indiana, and excerpts from Gideon Bachmann's on-set diary |
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