Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom

AKA Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma

Written by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Sergio Citti

Cast

Paolo Bonacelli
Giorgio Cataldi
Caterina Boratto
Sergio Fascetti
Bruno Musso
Antonio Orlando
Claudio Cicchetti

Notes on the 2-Disc BFI edition itself - The film has been released before, on Criterion and BFI in the '90s. Both were of poor quality and, thanks to Pasolini's estate revoking Criterion's rights to sell the film, made this edition the rarest / most expensive in the World; well, no longer a problem. The BFI has ported over the Criterion release mainly apart from one particular bonus: a 25-second sequence that has never been released before showing a reading of a Gottfried Benn poem.

Synopsis

Salò tells of a group of four upper class fascists (including a bishop and a duke) who round up a large group of adolescents from the local town to stage a depraved orgy of sex and murder in a secluded villa. A comedy about love, murder, etiquette, male escorts and Pasolini's adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's 18th-century novel transfers the action to WWII Italy, where Fascist rulers brutalise and torture a group of adolescent girls and boys. Soundly condemned at the time of its release by Italian censors, SALO proffers an unflinching look at the horrors committed by totalitarian regimes and their dehumanising abuse of power.

Reviews

DVD Special features

2 discs
Alternative original English-language version
Original Italian trailer Open Your Eyes – Pasolini at work on the set of Salò
Walking with Pasolini (2008) Robert Purvis’s new documentary exploring the meaning and impact of Pasolini’s film, with Neil Bartlett, David Forgacs, Noam Chomsky and Craig Lapper (Chief Examiner, BBFC)
Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die (1981) the classic documentary on the life and death of Pasolini
Fade to Black (2001) – a documentary discussing the ongoing relevance and power of Pasolini’s masterpiece
Ostia (1987) – a short film about Pasolini’s last days, starring Derek Jarman
‘Ostia-The Death of Pasolini.’ by Coil-the band’s 1987 track with new video accompaniment
Feature presented with uncompressed PCM audio. Illustrated booklet containing a new introduction to Salo by Sam Rohdie, Gideon Bachmann’s on-set diaries, reviews and correspondence exploring the film’s troubled history, illustrated with stills and on-set photographs.

Technical Information
Released date	29th September 2008
Opening Venue
Opening Venue tel.
Aspect Ratio	widescreen
Main Soundtrack	Stereo
Language	Italian
Subtitles	English
Region Code	0 (All regions; PAL)
Disc Format	DVD 9 PAL
Duration	112 minutes

Italy/1975/Colour

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