Released Year: 1975
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Casted by:
Paolo Bonacelli as The Duke
Giorgio Cataldi as The Bishop
Umberto Paolo Quintavalle as The President
Aldo Valletti as The Margistrate
Caterina Boratto
Elsa De Giorgi
Hélène Surgère as Mrs Vacarri
Sonia Saviange as the pianist
Renata Moar
Franco Merli
Inès Pellegrini
Story:
L² Scored: 4.5/10
L² Comment:
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Casted by:
Paolo Bonacelli as The Duke
Giorgio Cataldi as The Bishop
Umberto Paolo Quintavalle as The President
Aldo Valletti as The Margistrate
Caterina Boratto
Elsa De Giorgi
Hélène Surgère as Mrs Vacarri
Sonia Saviange as the pianist
Renata Moar
Franco Merli
Inès Pellegrini
Story:The film is set in the Republic of Salò, the Fascist-occupied portion of Italy in 1944. The story is in four segments loosely parallel to Dante's Inferno: the Anteinferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit, and the Circle of Blood.
Four men of power, the Duke (Duc de Blangis), the Bishop, the Magistrate (Curval), and the President (apparently Durcet) agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. With the aid of several collaborator young men, they kidnap eighteen young men and women (nine of each sex), and take them to a palace near Marzabotto. Accompanying them are four middle-aged prostitutes, also collaborators, whose function in the debauchery will be to recount erotically arousing stories for the men of power, who, in turn, will sadistically exploit their victims.
The story depicts some of the many days at the palace, during which the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. In the Anteinferno segment, the captures of some victims by the collaborators are shown, and, later, the four lords examining them. The Circle of Manias presents some of the stories in the first part of Sade's book, told by Mrs. Vaccari. In the Circle of Shit, the passions escalate in intensity from mainly non-penetrative sex to coprophagia. A most infamous scene shows a young woman forced to eat the feces of the Duke; later, the other victims are presented a giant meal of human feces. The Circle of Blood starts with a black mass-like wedding between the guards and the men of power, after which the Bishop is sodomized by his assistant. The Bishop then leaves to examine the captives in their rooms, where they start systematically betraying each other: one girl is revealed to be hiding a photograph, two girls are shown to be having a secret sexual affair, and finally, a collaborator and the black servant are shot down after being found having sex. Toward the end, the remaining victims are murdered through methods like scalping, branding, tongue and eyes cut out as each libertine takes his turn to watch, as voyeur.
The film's final shot portrays the complacency, myopia, and desensitization of the masses: two young soldiers, who had witnessed and collaborated in all of the prior atrocities, dance a simple waltz together.
Four men of power, the Duke (Duc de Blangis), the Bishop, the Magistrate (Curval), and the President (apparently Durcet) agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. With the aid of several collaborator young men, they kidnap eighteen young men and women (nine of each sex), and take them to a palace near Marzabotto. Accompanying them are four middle-aged prostitutes, also collaborators, whose function in the debauchery will be to recount erotically arousing stories for the men of power, who, in turn, will sadistically exploit their victims.
The story depicts some of the many days at the palace, during which the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. In the Anteinferno segment, the captures of some victims by the collaborators are shown, and, later, the four lords examining them. The Circle of Manias presents some of the stories in the first part of Sade's book, told by Mrs. Vaccari. In the Circle of Shit, the passions escalate in intensity from mainly non-penetrative sex to coprophagia. A most infamous scene shows a young woman forced to eat the feces of the Duke; later, the other victims are presented a giant meal of human feces. The Circle of Blood starts with a black mass-like wedding between the guards and the men of power, after which the Bishop is sodomized by his assistant. The Bishop then leaves to examine the captives in their rooms, where they start systematically betraying each other: one girl is revealed to be hiding a photograph, two girls are shown to be having a secret sexual affair, and finally, a collaborator and the black servant are shot down after being found having sex. Toward the end, the remaining victims are murdered through methods like scalping, branding, tongue and eyes cut out as each libertine takes his turn to watch, as voyeur.
The film's final shot portrays the complacency, myopia, and desensitization of the masses: two young soldiers, who had witnessed and collaborated in all of the prior atrocities, dance a simple waltz together.
L² Scored: 4.5/10L² Comment:
Despite how many naked and cute guys and girls in the scene, i still feel like vomiting after watching this movie. Urgghhh~ feel so uncomfortable after watching this, its really sick!!! I'm not sure how they get this idea for this movie anyway....
A brilliant re-imagining of the Marquis de Sade's twisted triumph!
ReplyDeleteA brilliant re-imagining of the Marquis de Sade's twisted triumph! (Sorry, not trying to spam; damn you, ENTER-key!)
ReplyDeleteThis film is a wonderful movie for the first half, but I can't get past the poo-eating and murder.
But if you like naked humiliation of late-teen boys and girls (as close as they could legally come to de Sade's concept of 12-15-year-olds) you'll love this movie. Whereas in "B-movies", female nudity is fleeting and male nudity practically unheard-of, Salo delivers the anatomical goods generously and throughout the film. 18 "kids", around the age of high-school sophomores to seniors, are vetted from a larger group rounded up by agents of the tormenters, known as "The Four Libertines". Plenty of humiliations right from the get-go as one young lady has her blouse and bra lifted away from her firm b-cups, then has her skirt and undies lowered, revealing her pubic hair and lovely bum. Another girl is lead down a winding staircase completely naked and made to stand before the Libertines as she weeps with shame. Her embarrassment is underscored by her jiggling breasts, pendulous with her shuddering and pleading.
The wedding scene is especially degrading. While the bride and groom are mockingly allowed clothing-a tuxedo for the groom and a wide gown for his betrothed. the 9 bridesmaids and 9 groomsmen are compelled to engage in the processional completely naked, breasts and penises wiggling and swaying with each painful step.