Salo (120 Days Of Sodom)

[Daemonia]

Originally Posted by vincenzo

I picked up the UK BFI DVD of Salo last week for £1 in a charity shop.

Never mind the cannibal flicks - this is a truly revolting piece of work. Borderline paedophiliac material dressed up as high art. It's an appalling and irresponsible piece of cinematic crap. In case you hadn't guessed, I hate the movie. I'm surprised the BBFC passed this uncut, containing as it does graphic and sexual descriptions of child abuse while old men play with little boys. Yeah...wonderful. Knock yourself out. Total garbage.

Was that a bit harsh?

[Daemonia]

I have an intense dislike for the movie - I can't argue that it's beautifully shot and has all the trappings of arthouse. But I think it's a grubby little film that panders, so it seems, to the director's own warped desires. I could be wrong on that score, but reports suggest that his tastes were a little..shall we say...unsavoury?

Maybe I'm too harsh towards the film. And yes, I do understand the socio-political motivations that supposedly lie behind the film - but I don't completely buy it, if I'm honest. To me, it's a catalogue of perversion directed at, to all intents and purposes, children. I'm not comfortable with that, myself. However, I would never call for its banning or censoring - but the movie just isn't to my taste. And it smacks of double-standards at the BBFC.

[siccoyote]

Haven't got round to this one yet, have to do it sometime.

[Philleh]

Originally Posted by Daemonia

I have an intense dislike for the movie - I can't argue that it's beautifully shot and has all the trappings of arthouse. But I think it's a grubby little film that panders, so it seems, to the director's own warped desires. I could be wrong on that score, but reports suggest that his tastes were a little..shall we say...unsavoury?

Maybe I'm too harsh towards the film. And yes, I do understand the socio-political motivations that supposedly lie behind the film - but I don't completely buy it, if I'm honest. To me, it's a catalogue of perversion directed at, to all intents and purposes, children. I'm not comfortable with that, myself. However, I would never call for its banning or censoring - but the movie just isn't to my taste. And it smacks of double-standards at the BBFC.

Salo was not made to be liked, in the traditional sense: much like the more recent Irreversible - it was made by an extremely angry and repressed individual (who many claim was assassinated by the communist government for his beliefs). And yes, he was a gay man... an extremely open gay man but that doesn't mean he was unsavoury, libertine? Certainly.

He also kept with the Marquis de Sade's material, concerning the sex and violence, as close as possible. So if that's what you found disturbing then blame de Sade, check out Passolini's other films like Canterbury Tales and you'll see that he was an artist and not a sadists.

And I didn't see any children being abused - they're all clearly in their late teens. Salo will always remain one of cinema's most controversial movies, but I've always found it interesting that fans of extreme cinema reject the film - it must certainly be touching a nerve, the same nerve that many regular filmgoers say about the material we all like.

The nerve that makes people say: "Why would someone watch that?"

The film would probably still be banned hadn't the BFI stepped up to defend the movie. Possible due to Passolini's previous art-house pictures, but maybe because they could see it was a work of art - fuelled by rage, but still art. Give me Salo over a Tracy Emin movie ANY DAY!

[Daemonia]

We'll have to agree to disagree, Philleh. If people dig the movie, great - I'm not saying 'Why would someone watch this?', I'm only saying that I disliked the movie. And no, I didn't mean being gay was unsavoury - far from it. But Pasolini, from what I can gather, lived a bit of a risky lifestyle.

I dunno - I just couldn't get into the film at all and found his 'messge' far too obscured to make any real cohesive connection to the fascism he was railing against. As such, how can the film have any real impact, especially in this day and age, when things are so different? I would have thought something more along the lines of Man Behind the Sun would have caused more of a stir - something with a clear socio-political message. Just my opinion and I would never call for it to be banned or call people who watch it 'sick'. Not at all.

[Philleh]

Originally Posted by Daemonia

We'll have to agree to disagree, Philleh. If people dig the movie, great - I'm not saying 'Why would someone watch this?', I'm only saying that I disliked the movie. And no, I didn't mean being gay was unsavoury - far from it. But Pasolini, from what I can gather, lived a bit of a risky lifestyle.

I dunno - I just couldn't get into the film at all and found his 'messge' far too obscured to make any real cohesive connection to the fascism he was railing against. As such, how can the film have any real impact, especially in this day and age, when things are so different? I would have thought something more along the lines of Man Behind the Sun would have caused more of a stir - something with a clear socio-political message. Just my opinion and I would never call for it to be banned or call people who watch it 'sick'. Not at all.

I took it as an all-out assault on the destructive nature of fascism. The elitists treatment of the common class in Italy during the 40's isn't far off what happened in the film - granted it was overplayed (via the Marquis de Sade content, a la the circle of shit and what not) but it was enough to have possibly gotten the poor guy killed!

I don't think anything based on historical fact can have any significant meaning to modern day audiences. We can't possible understand what it was like to be in a concentration camp or indeed in a fascist country like war-time Italy.

I haven?t seen Men Behind the Sun, but I've heard about the experiment scenes, which sound equally unpleasant as what is seen in Salo.

[vipco]

I've always found that interesting Philleh , that a large per cent of collectors and fans of extreme cinema ignore Salo.
I have seen it but dont own it and recently turned down the dvd set which was on offer for ?6.
For some reason its just a film I wouldn't think of buying for my collection. I dont fully know why but even at the give away price ?6 the thought of buying it never entered my head.

Men Behind the Sun has some very unpleasant scenes including open heart surgery on a young boy , though the way he was enticed to go with the guard by playing with a ball is just as disturbing as the surgery .
Other scenes include a naked man in a decompression chamber who's insides graphicly exit his rear and a live white cat thrown into a room full of rats fighting in vain as its eaten alive to name a just few of many.
Defineately not for the faint of heart.

[siccoyote]

Just watched Salo and wrote a review in my review thread, it was quite difficult to write as it's hard to put into words what I felt about it in words.

I didn't see the children aspect in the film.

Also I didn't really buy quite into the Nazi reason, I think I watched it the way De Sade would have intended it.

I was thinking it may get overlooked by a large per cent of collectors and fans of extreme cinema is the very open gay eroticism in it.

[Angel]

Can't say I can remember Salo very well having not seen it for many years. I do though remember finding it quite shocking when I first saw it although I doubt I would find it quite so shocking today as films tend to lose their impact as the years (and decades) pass by. I would imagine the BBFC passed it uncut in 2000 simply because there was nothing to cut. It was their view at the time that it was a seriously made film and certainly contained nothing illegal. I would have to watch it again but I don't recall the film breaching any of their published guidelines. They certainly wouldn't cut a scene simply because it was shocking or disturbing.

The BBFC don't cut subtitled films very often but if it contained anything that clearly violates UK law they would have to cut it.

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by Angel

The BBFC don't cut subtitled films very often but if it contained anything that clearly violates UK law they would have to cut it.

Baise Moi being a recent example.