What is the message of ‘Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom’?
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, the final film by Pier Paolo Pasolini, was certainly a bold exit for the acclaimed Italian director. For decades, Pasolini had been penning screenplays for others, such as Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita and Nights of Cabiria. He started directing his own movies in the 1960s, releasing groundbreaking works such as Teorema and Pigsty, before continuing into the ‘70s with titles like The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales.
Fiercely political (he identified as a communist) and openly homosexual, Pasolini was seen as a rebellious figure in Italy, controversial due to his outspoken nature. He wrote poetry, novels, theatre and films, using these varying mediums to communicate his dissatisfaction with consumerism, class divides, capitalism and the oppressive nature of the bourgeoisie.
This was most prominent in Salò, which pushed the boundaries of the cinematic medium. Transgressive and wholly shocking, even to the most desensitised viewers, the film remains one of the most controversial pieces of film ever immortalised onto celluloid. It was released in 1975, shortly after Pasolini was killed. Many people suspect that Salò partly caused the director’s death – that’s how divisive the movie is.
Taking inspiration from Marquis de Sade’s novel The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinage (the very man whose name inspired the term ‘sadism’), the film is as shocking as it sounds from the title. In the beginning, we see the kidnapping of a bunch of teenagers who are taken hostage in a castle by several debauched libertines. Stripped naked, they enter a world of pure torture and pain. As the libertines and some ageing prostitutes tell shocking stories of depraved sexual acts, including rape and the consumption of faeces, the teenagers are forced to listen before similar acts are enacted upon them.
Throughout the film, we see characters force-fed shit and nails, raped, beaten, demoralised, and eventually killed, all while the libertines experience great joy, revelling in the humiliation and cruelty. Divided into three parts, Circle of Manias, Circle of Shit, and Circle of Blood, the film is relentless. Grim, stomach-turning and bleak, you won’t be able to eat chocolate cake for months afterwards without thinking of those scarring scenes.
So, what does it all mean? Why did Pasolini want us to watch such horrendous imagery for almost two hours straight? Set in Fascist Italy, the movie is an allegory for the abuses of power and corruption that totalitarianism and capitalism can allow. These teenagers represent the proletariat, the everyday person who is subjected to rules that have been magicked out of thin air by people who have more power and status – often undemocratically.
By depicting some of the worst acts of torture imaginable, Pasolini suggests that those in charge – those who perpetuate and champion fascism – really will go this far, both literally and metaphorically. Fascism has the power to destroy people through economic oppression, yet many fascist dictatorships have caused the actual physical suffering of many civilians through acts of genocide.
The libertines in Salò act without a hint of remorse, enjoying the infliction of pain on others, even dancing once the teens have been massacred – as if it was just another day at the office. Pasolini proves that the worst things we can imagine aren’t just the stuff of nightmares – or buried in the past – governments across the world have the ability to treat people inhumanely and will continue to do so in the future.
In the finale sequence, the teenagers turn on each other in the hopes of sparing their lives, giving the libertines any information they can about the others, such as the fact that one boy has been having an affair with a servant. This reflects the way that capitalistic and unequal societies breed an ‘every-man-for-themselves’ attitude, fostering a move away from the community as people feel the need to fend for their own well-being under such repression.
Salò is not for the faint of heart, but it is a compelling metaphorical analysis of fascism and just how ruthless humankind can be.
