Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Did You Know?

• The film is separated into four segments with intertitles inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy: the Anteinferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit, and the Circle of Blood.
• In 2008, artist Adam Chodzko released a short film called Reunion: Salò, 1998, attempting to reunite the actors who portrayed the adolescents; only one, Antiniska Nemour, was found.
• The Toronto International Film Festival placed it at no. 47 on its 2010 list of The Essential 100 films.

Cast

The four libertine masters are the Duke, played by Paolo Bonacelli and voiced by Giancarlo Vigorelli; the Bishop, played by Giorgio Cataldi and voiced by Giorgio Caproni; the Magistrate, played by Umberto P. Quintavalle and voiced by Aurelio Roncaglia; and the President, played by Aldo Valletti and voiced by Marco Bellocchio. The Duke is tall, bearded, and a fanatic fascist who enjoys tormenting female victims, while the Bishop is his extremely sadistic brother who writes down victims' names for punishment.

The Magistrate is a mustachioed bully who enjoys sadomasochism, and the President is scrawny and crude, passionate about anal sex but refusing vaginal intercourse. Three storytellers—Signora Castelli (Caterina Boratto), Signora Maggi (Elsa De Giorgi), and Signora Vaccari (Hélène Surgère, dubbed by Laura Betti in the French dub)—narrate tales during the circles. The Pianist (Sonia Saviange) plays continuously but commits suicide on the final day. Male victims include Sergio Fascetti, who is forced to marry, raped by the President, branded by the Bishop, and killed.

Production

Sergio Citti was originally attached to direct the adaptation of de Sade's novel, with Pasolini later taking over. During script collaboration, Pasolini transposed the setting from 18th-century France to the Republic of Salò in spring 1944, using the location as a metonymy for the Italian Social Republic. Pasolini noted his main contribution was the Dante-esque structure, which he felt was de Sade's original intention. The victims rarely speak, intended to demonstrate the physical body as a commodity and the annulment of the personality of the Other, depicting an anarchy of power where sexual acts function as metaphor for power relations.

Pasolini also described the film as being about the nonexistence of history as seen from Western culture and Marxism. Interior design featured art by Severini, Duchamp, and Feininger, and the four libertines were written as highly educated characters referencing Blanchot, Nietzsche, and Klossowski.

Release

Salò premiered at the Paris Film Festival on 23 November 1975, three weeks after Pasolini's death. In Italy, it received approval on 23 December 1975 but was formally banned three weeks after its January 1976 release. Worldwide distribution was supplied by United Artists, with a limited US release via Zebra Releasing Corporation on 3 October 1977. The film has been banned in several countries due to graphic portrayals of rape, torture, and murder of youths.

In Italy, producer Alberto Grimaldi faced obscenity charges. The British Board of Film Censors rejected it in January 1976; an uncut screening at a London cinema club in 1977 was raided by police. A cut version was later shown under club conditions, and the film was finally passed uncut in the UK in 2000. In the US, it was not banned but was banned in Ontario, Canada. In 1994, a Cincinnati arrest for pandering was dismissed on Fourth Amendment grounds.

Reception

Salò grossed $1,810,733 internationally, with $1,786,578 from Sweden alone. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 70% approval rating based on 40 reviews, with the consensus calling it irredeemably depraved yet impossible to ignore. Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader defended it as an essential work that refuses to allow redemption. The Time Out film guide deemed it thoroughly objectionable, offering no insights into power or history. TV Guide gave it 2.5/4, calling it nearly unwatchable and extremely disturbing. The Chicago Film Critics Association named it the 65th-scariest film ever made in 2006.