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Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Episode 1529th April 2022 • Subversive Cinema • Art Hall
00:00:00 00:37:15

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A story about sadism, abuse, eating poop, and 120 days in the Italian countryside.

***LISTENER DISCRETION IS ADVISED***

Listen in as me and returning guest Joe try to recover from seeing this controversial work.

Written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini (The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights) New York Times said the film was "a perfect example of the kind of material that ... can be acceptable on paper but becomes so repugnant when visualized on the screen that it further dehumanizes the human spirit." TV Guide stated that "despite moments of undeniably brilliant insight, [the film] is nearly unwatchable, extremely disturbing, and often literally nauseous." The Village Voice said the film "retains the power to disturb in the era of the sham-seditious blockbuster." No matter how you cut it, this film is CRAZY and is in a league of its own.

It tells the story of four libertine authorities at the end of World War II in Fascist Italy. They kidnap a group of young boys and girls as unwilling participants in their perverse and disturbing 120-day orgy of depravity. Hiring a quartet of prostitutes to tells stories of their lives to kickstart the libertines' libidos, the activities progress from sexual violence to coprophilia (shit-eating and shit-play) to eventual torture and murder.

It's a really, really fucked up movie.

The film is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Watch at your own risk.

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