One of the main protagonists who looks with desire at the victims.
Salò or the 120 days of Sodom It is a film that marks before and after the history of explicit cinema. Considered one of the most controversial in history, it chronicles the crimes and aberrations committed by the Nazis during their invasion of Italy between 1944 and 1945, more specifically in Brescia, Lombardy.
The film tells the story of four fascists who gathered 18 young people in a luxurious mansion to torture them physically, sexually and mentally for 120 days. The unexpected happened later: its director, Pier Paolo Pasoliniwas brutally murdered by Pelosi Pinea 17-year-old boy who seduced her to death and then she was run over by a car multiple times.
The event took place on November 2, 1975, days after his controversial creation was released in theaters. According to investigation sources, the homicide was the consequence of a murderer’s reaction after a confusing episode with the filmmaker.
Pier Paolo Pasolini, one of the most talented and controversial men of the 20th century, was assassinated in 1975.
To understand the dark plot behind the feature film, it is necessary to refer to the choice of its title. The Republic of Saló was a state created between 1943-45’s Benito Mussolini. It was the last fascist stronghold against the advancing resistance and allies during World War II.
The film is an adaptation of the 1785 book “The 120 days of Sodom” ng Marquis de Sade, the first novelist to cross all ethical and moral barriers for his works with a sexual nature. Known for giving his name to a sexual habit characterized by having pleasure by inflicting pain on others (sadism), he is the sworn writer par excellence.
According to the biblical story, Sodom was a city that God burned as divine punishment after the sins committed by its inhabitants in connection with excessive attachment to property and wealth; these acts are interpreted as ruthlessness. The Sodomites were accused of being blasphemous and bloodthirsty.
Pier Paolo Pasolini in the streets of Rome.
An intense film in four chapters
The story of the film begins when four powerful men call the President, the Duke, the Bishop and the Magistrate, agreed to marry their daughters in a libertine ritual. With the help of some collaborators, they kidnapped 18 young people (nine boys and nine girls) and took them to a palace.
They include four sex workers, whose role is to tell stories that will inspire powerful men, who then sexually and sadistically exploit their victims. The film is divided into four works: each of which will raise the level of sexual violence.
The film takes place mostly in Silling Castle and is divided into four segments: Anteinferno, Circle of manias, circle of shit and Circle of blood. The gentlemen, along with their associates, will raise the level of cruelty to the youth until they end the lives of almost all of them.
“Saló or 120 days of Sadom” caused rejection and admiration from film critics.
Prisoners are tortured in all possible ways: sexually, psychologically and physically.
Controversial from start to finish
the broken director Pier Paolo Pasolini was born on March 5, 1922 in Bologna, Italy. His father, an alcoholic and gambler, was authoritarian and choleric, abusive to his wife and the actress ’mother. Pasolini had a natural talent that impressed him with his various artistic facets: linguistics, literature, painting and cinema. his admitted homosexuality It was quite controversial for its time.
In 1949 he was convicted for corruption of minors and judicial prosecution was common in his 37 years of life. Among his most important works we can highlight: Oedipus, the son of fortune ((1967) and Porcile (1969), or who inaugurated the Trilogy of Life: The Decameron (1971), The Canterbury Tales (1972) and The Thousand and One Nights (1973).
His violent murder a few days after the premiere of his controversial work shocked the entertainment world. Investigations have determined that Pino Pelosi admitted to beating the filmmaker to death.
Scene from the film where the women tell their suggestive stories to the men.
What happened?. Pasolini would have promised him 20,000 lire in exchange for sex. Pino accepted, they went together to a vacant lot near the sea of Ostia, but when they got there, the young man changed his mind and decided to get out of the car.
The director could not resist this and tried to strike the young man, who, in his defense, struck him with so much pain that it resulted in his murder. To then run over him a few times with the Alfa Romeo and leave him.
The case was closed for several months. On December 10, 1975, the young man was sentenced to more than 9 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, vehicle theft and obscenity in a public place. He served seven and was released.
Pino Pelosi with the Police in Ostia, at the very scene of Pasolini’s crime.
Thirty years later he changed his version and in an interview he involved a third party. Murder was never entirely clear. Giusseppe “Pino” Pelosi died in 2017 due to a tumor. He is 59 years old.
Saló or the 120 days of Sodom is intended as the first of three films in a legend known as “The Trilogy of Death.” Previously, Pasolini filmed the “trilogy of life” (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and The Thousand and One Nights). The project was left unfinished because of his murder.
The feature film was banned in some countries because of its graphic depiction of rape, torture and murder, in addition to the fact that minors participated. In Australia, for example, it was banned in cinemas in 1976, allowed in 1993, and re-censored in 1998.
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italian writer, poet and film director is considered one of the most famous intellectuals of the 20th century.
Now, the French government wants to recover the manuscript of “The 120 days of Sodom” written by the Marquis de Sade in 1785 while he was imprisoned in La Bastille. President Emmanuel Macron The philosopher’s work is considered a national heritage and is willing to pay 4.5 million dollars to add this frightening and controversial work to the National Library of France
Source: Clarin