Salo, or: The 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Thoroughly unpleasant, but not without purpose; Pasolini takes de Sade's Sears catalog of perversion (side note: The 120 Days of Sodom is one of the most boring books I've ever tried to read) and, by shifting the time period, adds context to the proceedings. What we have here is a savage comment on the nature of power, the dehumanizing effects of fascism and possibly even the predatory nature of sex itself. That doesn't make it a film to be "liked" or "enjoyed", true, and it's certainly not perfect (the ending seems, well, abrupt... maybe Matt can help me out with this one?) but it shouldn't be ignored.
Grade: B
Thoroughly unpleasant, but not without purpose; Pasolini takes de Sade's Sears catalog of perversion (side note: The 120 Days of Sodom is one of the most boring books I've ever tried to read) and, by shifting the time period, adds context to the proceedings. What we have here is a savage comment on the nature of power, the dehumanizing effects of fascism and possibly even the predatory nature of sex itself. That doesn't make it a film to be "liked" or "enjoyed", true, and it's certainly not perfect (the ending seems, well, abrupt... maybe Matt can help me out with this one?) but it shouldn't be ignored.
Grade: B
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