Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (1975)

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writers:

Pier Paolo Pasolini (written by) and
Sergio Citti (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

January 1976 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

The 120 Days of Sodom

Plot:

Four fascist libertines round up 9 teenages boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental and sexual torture.

Plot Keywords:

Libertine | Teenage Boy | Piano | Voyeur | Torture

Cast

Paolo Bonacelli	...	The Duke
Giorgio Cataldi	...	The Bishop
Umberto Paolo Quintavalle	...	The Magistrate (as Umberto P. Quintavalle)
Aldo Valletti	...	The President
Caterina Boratto	...	Signora Castelli
Elsa De Giorgi	...	Signora Maggi
Hélène Surgère	...	Signora Vaccari (as Helene Surgere)
Sonia Saviange	...	The Pianist
Sergio Fascetti	...	Male Victim
Bruno Musso	...	Male Victim
Antonio Orlando	...	Male Victim
Claudio Cicchetti	...	Male Victim
Franco Merli	...	Male Victim
Umberto Chessari	...	Male Victim
Lamberto Book	...	Male Victim
Gaspare Di Jenno	...	Male Victim
Giuliana Melis	...	Female Victim
Faridah Malik	...	Female Victim
Graziella Aniceto	...	Female Victim
Renata Moar	...	Female Victim
Dorit Henke	...	Female Victim
Antiniska Nemour	...	Female Victim (as Antinisca Nemour)
Benedetta Gaetani	...	Female Victim
Olga Andreis	...	Female Victim
Tatiana Mogilansky	...	Daughter
Susanna Radaelli	...	Daughter
Giuliana Orlandi	...	Daughter
Liana Acquaviva	...	Daughter
Rinaldo Missaglia	...	Guard
Giuseppe Patruno	...	Guard
Guido Galletti	...	Guard
Efisio Etzi	...	Guard
Claudio Troccoli	...	Collaborator
Fabrizio Menichini	...	Collaborator
Maurizio Valaguzza	...	Collaborator
Ezio Manni	...	Collaborator
Paola Pieracci	...	Wife
Carla Terlizzi	...	Wife
Anna Maria Dossena	...	Wife
Anna Recchimuzzi	...	Wife
Ines Pellegrini	...	The Slave Girl
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marco Lucantoni	...	First Male Victim (uncredited)

Directed by
Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writing credits
Pier Paolo Pasolini		written by and
Sergio Citti		screenplay collaborator
Pupi Avati		uncredited

Produced by
Alberto De Stefanis	....	producer
Antonio Girasante	....	producer
Alberto Grimaldi	....	producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Tonino Delli Colli

Film Editing by
Nino Baragli
Tatiana Casini Morigi
Enzo Ocone

Production Design by
Dante Ferretti

Set Decoration by
Osvaldo Desideri

Costume Design by
Danilo Donati

Makeup Department
Giusy Bovino	....	hair stylist (as Giusi Bovino)
Osvaldo Desideri	....	makeup artist
Alfredo Tiberi	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Renzo David	....	production manager
Alessandro Mattei	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Umberto Angelucci	....	first assistant director
Fiorella Infascelli	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Italo Tomassi	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Fausto Ancillai	....	sound mixer
Giorgio Loviscek	....	sound
Domenico Pasquadibisceglie	....	sound
Giuseppina Sagliano	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Alfredo Tiberi	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Sandro Battaglia	....	first assistant camera
Deborah Imogen Beer	....	still photographer (as Deborah Beer)
Emilio Bestetti	....	camera operator
Giancarlo Granatelli	....	second assistant camera
Carlo Tafani	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Stephen Bearman	....	colorist (digitally restored version)
Ugo De Rossi	....	assistant editor
Alfredo Menchini	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Arnaldo Graziosi	....	musician: piano

Other crew
Paula Mitchell	....	researcher (as Pola Kurlancheek)
Marco Bellocchio	....	voice dubbing: Aldo Valletti (uncredited)
Laura Betti	....	voice dubbing: Hélène Surgère (uncredited)
Giorgio Caproni	....	voice dubbing: Giorgio Cataldi (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)
• Les Productions Artistes Associés (co-production)

Distributors

• United Artists Europa (1975) (non-USA) (theatrical) (Europe)
• United Artists (1976) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Zebra (1977) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1992) (Canada) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Water Bearer Films (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• British Film Institute (BFI) (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Primer Plano Film Group (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Primer Plano Film Group Video (2003) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)
• Future Film (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Legend Films International (2005) (Germany) (VHS) (rights)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2001) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Kamras Film Group (2001) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Eagle Pictures (2003) (Italy) (DVD) (uncut)
• MGM/UA Home Video (????) (Sweden) (VHS) (VHS re-release)
• Paradiso Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Voyager Company, The (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (????) (West Germany) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (????) (Sweden) (VHS)

Other Companies

• International Recordings  sound synchronization
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs

Also Known As:

Salo ou les 120 journées de Sodome (France)
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (International: English title)

Runtime:

116 min | 145 min (premiere version)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian | French | German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Italy:(Banned) (original rating) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (nf) (cut) (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1976) | Finland:K-18 (2001) | Italy:VM18 (re-rated) | Australia:(Banned) (1976-1993) (1998- ) | Australia:R (1993-1998) (uncut) | West Germany:(Banned) (cinema release) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 (uncut) | Japan:R-18 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) (alternate footage) | Hungary:18 | Brazil:18 | Chile:18 | Argentina:18 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario) | France:-16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2001) (uncut) | Portugal:M/18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (re-rating) (2000) (uncut) | France:X (original rating) | Norway:18 (re-rating) (2005) (video premiere) | Norway:(Banned) (1976-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Salò, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy

Company:

Produzioni Europee Associati (PEA)

Trivia:

The Japanese Region 2 DVD released in 2002 contains several more production photos not seen in any extant version of the film. Among them, a girl strapped into an electric chair (presumably during the final scene) and the bodies of the victims arranged in two rows, some covered with sheets, in the courtyard.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[four men, sitting at a table, each sign a booklet]
The Duke: Your Excellency.
The Magistrate: Mr. President.
The President: My lord.
The Bishop: All's good if it's excessive.

Movie Connections:

References Femmes femmes (1974)

Soundtrack:

Prelude in E minor

Fascism via De Sade

I'm going to keep this short. If you want to see Salo simply to see what all the hype is about, keep your $600. Or rent it. If you can find it. I happen to own the Criterion release that is now being ripped and sold on Ebay for $400-600 bucks. Is it worth it? No. Is any film? No. Is it an excellent film? Absolutely.

Try not to think of Pasolini's masterpiece as a shock-for-shock's sake project and you'll truly understand the horror that is Salo. While the depiction of violence, sodomy, corpophagia, eye-gouging, scalping, nipple burning with candles, etc. etc. is horrific it is Pasolini's treatment of the boys and girls that is much more horrifying.

The monsters that occupy this small space of two hours, the fascists, are more human that their victims. We are given no insight into the lives of these children, while we are shown at great length the heads of state personal histories and sadistic proclivities.

Salo has stood the test of time because of it's unflinching portrayal of human violence and idealism, and the fact that, as the Criterion collection states: "Moral redemption may be nothing but a myth." Be warned: for many, Salo is a film not easily shaken off after a single viewing.