Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Starring Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti & Caterina Boratto
Directed by Paolo Pasolini
Written by Pier Paolo Pasolini & Sergio Citti
Not every potential candidate for the Sickest Fucking Film Ever is a bottom of the barrel piece of exploitation trash. A few find their way into the refined realm of the urban art house, with loads of critical acclaim luring unsuspecting audiences to endure gut wrenching depravity.
It always makes me snicker when one of these arty eye-gougings is lavished with praise; it’s always done by some over-educated dope that has never seen “Ilsa, She-wolf of the SS” or “Cannibal Holocaust.” They sneer at the more honest examples of trash movie-making, but are easily hoodwinked by some pervert who throws in some heavy-handed symbolism or lazy social criticism along with wiggling peters and spewing intestines.
There is no better example of this con-job than Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975).” Some critics have added “Salo” to various Best Of lists. The movie was even distributed on DVD as a part of the prestigious Criterion Collection, complete with a booklet of gushing essays by leading critics.
Don’t get me wrong, “Salo” is definitely a contender for Sickest Fucking Film Ever. It’s really hard to sit through its nearly 2 hour length. My sense of outrage is seriously degraded, and I had a hard time with it.
“Salo” is an adaptation of a novel by the Marquis de Sade, a great starting point for depravity. During World War 2, four fascist Italian noblemen and their horrible wives kidnap eighteen young boys and girls and drag them off to a remote chateau as objects of degenerate experimentation and entertainment. They progress from rape and humiliation to forced shit eating, piss drinking, and eventually torture and execution. Along the way, the noblemen stage elaborate mock wedding ceremonies, spout philosophy, and cross dress - all to ensure that highbrow audience members are clear that this is some socially relevant shit they are watching.
Even though it is not explicitly hardcore, “Salo” is a brutal viewing experience. I will credit Pasolini with staging his shocks well, and getting convincing performances from his actors. But it’s hard to screw up acting disgusted when you are eating shit with a spoon.
But afterwards, I couldn’t help but think how much closer “Salo” was to contemporary Italio-Trash crud like “Emmanuelle in America” or “Caligula Reincarnated as Hitler” than it was to the films of Fellini or Vittorio De Sica. During the 1970s and into the 1980s, a long string of extreme exploitation films were churned out by Italians in the Nazisploitation, Nunsploitation, or Cannibal genres. Many of these films remain unmatched today, featuring a variety of hardcore sex, animal cruelty, ultra-violence, and general wretched misogyny.
These movies were not low rent crap like most of Jess Franco’s movies from the same era; many of these Italio-shockers were fairly well produced, with lavish sets or beautiful location photography. Some included plotlines and dialog that aped serious dramas or made attempts to present “messages” amidst the debauchery. In fact, wrapping nudity, sex, or violence in the guise of high-mindedness has been an old exploitation tactic, going back to the old road show days when sex-hygiene or anti-drug movies came complete with stern warnings like “DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN IN YOUR COMMUNITY!!!”
I’m sure that the snooty critics would lean on the intent of the filmmakers to sort exploitation junk from “cinema.” But I would argue that intent just raises the bar for on the edge movie makers. If you are a self-proclaimed artist, then you have to really deliver artistically to justify subjecting your viewers to extremes of sex and violence.
To me, “Salo,” despite its pretensions, does not elevate itself above its nasty premise. But it still lingers in my mind and definitely has made the cut as one of the Sickest Fucking Films Ever.
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patrick