Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (), billed on-screen as Pasolini's 120 Days of Sodom on English-language prints and commonly referred to as simply Salò (), is a 1975 Italian-French political war art horror film directed and co-written by Pier Paolo Pasolini. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1785 novel (first published in 1904) The 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade, updating the story's setting to Italy during World War II. It was Pasolini's final film, released three weeks after his murder.
The film focuses on four wealthy, corrupt Italian libertines in the fascist Italian Social Republic (1943–1945). The libertines kidnap 18 teenagers and subject them to four months of extreme violence, sadism, genital torture and psychological torture. The film explores themes of political corruption, consumerism, authoritarianism, nihilism, morality, capitalism, totalitarianism, sadism, sexuality, and Italian fascism. The story is in four segments, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy: the Anteinferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit, and the Circle of Blood. The film also contains frequent references to and several discussions of Friedrich Nietzsche's 1887 book On the Genealogy of Morality, Ezra Pound's poem The Cantos, and Marcel Proust's novel sequence In Search of Lost Time.
Premiering at the Paris Film Festival on 23 November 1975, the film had a brief theatrical run in Italy before being banned in January 1976, and was released in the United States the following year on 3 October 1977. Because it depicts youths subjected to graphic violence, torture, sexual abuse, and murder, the film was controversial upon its release and has remained banned in many countries.
The confluence of thematic content in the film—ranging from the political and socio-historical, to psychological and sexual—has led to much critical discussion. It has been both praised and decried by various film historians and critics and was named the 65th-scariest film ever made by the Chicago Film Critics Association in 2006.
Plot The film is separated into four segments with intertitles, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy:
Ante Inferno/Antinferno
In 1944, in the Italian Social Republic (RSI), the fascist and German-controlled portion of Italy, four wealthy men of power—the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate and the President—agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. They rule that once at the mansion the daughters will act as servants, and must remain completely naked at all times. They then recruit four teenage boys—Bruno, Fabrizio, Claudio and Ezio—as collaborators (guards) in the Decima Flottiglia MAS and four young men (Blackshirt soldiers), called "studs", who are chosen because of their large penises and good looks. The teenage guards and fascist secret police (OVRA) are sent out to capture young victims, of whom nine teenage boys and nine teenage girls are picked and brought to a villa near Marzabotto. One of the boys tries to escape but is shot dead.
Circle of Manias/
Accompanying the libertines at the villa are four middle-aged prostitutes, also collaborators, whose job it is to orchestrate debauched interludes for the men. During the many days at the villa, the four men subject their victims to increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. During breakfast, the daughters enter the dining hall naked to serve food. One of the studs, Efisio, trips and rapes Liana, the Duke's elder daughter, in front of the fascists and collaborators, who laugh at her cries of pain, aside from Ezio, who is secretly distressed by the ordeal. The President prompts Efisio to penetrate him anally while the Duke sings "".
After breakfast, one of the victims who had previously tried to escape is shown dead to the crowd. Later, two victims named Sergio and Renata are forced to get married after one of the studs, Guido, and Signora Vaccari forcefully masturbate them. The President and the Duke then respectively rape Sergio and Renata to stop them from having sex with each other, during which the Magistrate additionally engages with the Duke in three-way intercourse.
On another day, the naked victims are forced to act like dogs. When one of the victims, Lamberto, refuses, the Magistrate whips him and feeds Susanna, the President's daughter, a slice of polenta filled with nails.
Circle of Shit/
Signora Maggi relates her troubled childhood and her coprophilia. As she explains how she killed her mother over a dispute about her prostitution, Renata cries, remembering the murder of her own mother. The Duke, aroused by the sound of her cries, orders Efisio and the guards to undress her. Renata begs God for death and the Duke forces her to eat his feces with a spoon. Later, at a mock wedding reception for the Magistrate and Sergio, the victims are presented with a meal of human feces, which the studs, prostitutes and masters eat without question. During a search for the victim with the most beautiful buttocks, for which the reward is instant death, Franco is picked. However, the Bishop reveals he was never going to fulfill the initial 'reward', instead promising a far more painful death in the near future.
Circle of Blood/
A Black Mass-like wedding ensues between the studs and the libertines while the latter are dressed in drag. Afterwards, the Bishop examines the captives in their rooms, where they start betraying each other: Claudio reveals that Graziella is hiding a photograph, and Graziella reveals that Eva and Antiniska are having a secret affair. Victim Umberto is appointed to replace Ezio, who is betrayed by Antiniska for having sex with a black maid and, after revealing himself to be a communist, is shot dead by the libertines.
The remaining victims are summoned to determine which of them will be punished, and which ones are eligible to come with the libertines "to Salò". Graziella is spared due to her betrayal of Eva and Antiniska, and Rino is spared due to his submissive relationship with the Duke. Those who are called are given a blue ribbon and sentenced to a painful death, while those who have not been called, provided they keep collaborating with the libertines, can hope to return home. The victims are taken outside and raped, tortured and murdered through methods such as branding, hanging, scalping, burning and having their tongues and eyes cut out, as each libertine watches from the villa through binoculars. Horrified by the atrocities being committed, the pianist jumps out of a window and falls to her death.
As the torture continues, Bruno and Claudio dance a waltz together; Claudio asks the name of Bruno's girlfriend back at home, to which he replies "Margherita".
Cast
Masters The Duke (played by Paolo Bonacelli and voiced by Giancarlo Vigorelli); tall, strongly built, bearded, chauvinistic, very sadistic, and a fanatic fascist; enjoys tormenting female victims with verbal abuse and degrading them, his favorite victims being Renata and Fatimah. Highly sexually potent. Shows "loving" feelings for the male victim Rino and allows him to live at the end. Likes to talk about fascist and misanthropic philosophy. The Bishop (played by Giorgio Cataldi and voiced by Giorgio Caproni); the Duke's extremely sadistic brother. Writes down several victims' names for punishment. May have a soft spot for Graziella, and is in an apparently affectionate relationship with one of the studs. Likes to torture and mock-execute people. The Magistrate (played by Umberto P. Quintavalle and voiced by Aurelio Roncaglia); mustachioed bully who enjoys sadomasochism more than the President; fit and balding; enjoys abusing the victims, yet shows joy from being sodomized. Very strict and cruel. The President (played by Aldo Valletti and voiced by Marco Bellocchio); scrawny, weak, and crude. He enjoys dark and punning humor and painful penetration to himself and others. He is passionate about anal sex and will engage in sodomy with any female, but refuses to have vaginal intercourse with them.
Storytellers Signora Castelli (played by Caterina Boratto); a prideful, cruel prostitute who jokes about horrible instances. Tells stories during the Circle of Blood. Signora Maggi (played by Elsa De Giorgi); a coprophiliac who finds no shame in mooning others or even defecating in front of them. Committed matricide for a nobleman. Tells stories during the Circle of Shit. Signora Vaccari (played by Hélène Surgère and dubbed by Laura Betti, voice used in French dub); lively and polite, she was molested as a very young child, but enjoyed it. Tells stories during the Circle of Manias. The Pianist (played by ); soft-spoken, she plays continuously during the day, but is secretly very distressed at the horrors around her. Commits suicide during the final day because she could not witness any more horrors.
Male victims Sergio Fascetti – Forced to marry, but kept from actual intercourse. He is then raped by the President. In the end, he is branded by the Bishop and killed. In a lost or deleted scene, he appears sitting in a low chair and is shot. Bruno Musso – Carlo Porro; an outspoken boy who shows a foul mouth even to the Masters. One of the Magistrate's favorite victims of bullying. In the end, he is killed after having his left eye gouged out by the Magistrate (and also the other eye and then killed by garrote in a lost or deleted scene). Antonio Orlando – Killed after having his penis burned off by the President. In a lost or deleted scene, he appears killed by hanging. Claudio Cicchetti – Confesses to the Bishop about Graziella's photograph, leading to a chain of revealed secrets. Killed in the end. Franco Merli – Prideful and youthful. Tricked into his position with a promise of sex with an attractive girl. Said to have the most beautiful buttocks. Nearly killed midway through the film, but spared on a promise of a worse future death. He is killed at the end after having his tongue cut off by the President. In a lost or deleted scene, he appears killed by hanging. Umberto Chessari – First a victim but later recruited off-screen as a collaborator, and replaces Ezio after he is shot. Becomes drunk with the power over others as a collaborator and start to act like the other fascists (for example aiming at his former victim friends and saying [Hey, you fags!] to them). Lamberto Book – Lamberto Gobbi; he refuses to eat like a dog and is whipped by the Magistrate. Also killed in the end. Gaspare di Jenno – Rino; a slightly masochistic homosexual and the Duke's favorite. Shows sexual feelings and submission for the Duke and is therefore not tortured like other victims. Is also later recruited off-screen. Marco Lucantoni – Ferruccio Tonna (uncredited); son of a subversive family, he tries to escape from the truck before the arrival to the mansion, but he is shot by the fascist soldiers who escorted the truck.
Female victims Giuliana Melis – Is early on forced to simulate how to manually stimulate the male sex on a dummy, but fails to do it "right". Raped and killed at the end. In a lost or deleted scene, the Duke rapes her while two studs tear off her nipples. Faridah Malik – Fatimah; a common victim of both the Duke's sexism and the Magistrate's bullying. In the end, she is scalped by the Magistrate. Graziella Aniceto – Finds her time at the Palace unbearable and is calmed by Eva, whom she betrays. She is left alive at the film's end along with Rino. Renata Moar – A God-fearing and especially wide-eyed innocent. Forced into the palace just not long after witnessing the death of her mother. She is forced to marry Sergio before being raped by the Duke. When she hears that they killed her mother, she begs God for death. The Duke enjoys tormenting her and at one point forces her to consume his feces. She is killed at the end after having her breasts burned by the President. In a lost or deleted scene, she appears killed by hanging.