This film has garnered a reputation as among the most vile and wretched pieces of art ever put to film. A reputation hammered in by the infamous nature of its source material, as well as the grisly murder of the film's writer the same year it was released. Salò is based on The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinism, by the Marquis de Sade, who you may be familiar with for having the word Sadism, or "the derivation of pleasure as a result of inflicting pain or watching pain inflicted on others," named directly after him.
This film was made in Italian, based on the writings of a Frenchman, and translated into English. Somewhere along the line I feel that something was lost in my understanding of the film. Periodically there were lines that were not subtitled, and though I got the gist of what was going on, I still feel I missed things that an Italian audience would not have, and for that I feel gypped.
There are no real characters in this film, just ideas given body. There are very few names used, usually just formal titles. The only characters given enough time to be considered protagonists are the leaders of this group of people that kidnap and rape and torture and murder people. The leader, referred to as the president, is cross-eyed and a completely detestable individual. In a movie about what Salò is about, he is able to transform himself as the most detestable of the lot. With the exception of Signora Castelli, a character played exceedingly forced, everyone else in the cast performs fine, but nothing to really write home about.
There sort of is a story, but if you've ever heard of Salò, you got it. There's no more depth or intricacy to the film than what it already is. Kidnapping, sexual abuse, murder, rape, torture, and it takes place in a castle of some sort in the Italian countryside. That's it. Those things happen. Furthermore, it takes 2 hours for those things to happen. The movie is supposed to be very unsettling, but for most of the film I was just bored. The gruesome scenes were good, by 70's standards at least, but they didn't make up for the film's reputation or long buildup. This film has no payoff.
On the other side of the coin, we have the movie's artistic direction, which is beautiful. Framing of the shots, sets, and cinematography are all beautifully done, and really wasted on this movie. The film's content may be ugly, but it is recorded in a style no different than one would employ in the most sophisticated of art films. Similarly, some beautiful piano and ambient period music is employed throughout the movie. The graceful audio well balances against the blunt actions it accompanies.
For a film with such a reputation, I'm disappointed. I've heard a lot of bad things about it, and while some of them were true, this film just doesn't hold up as a legendary shock film when compared to much of modern cinema. A Serbian Film is easily a better film, and several times more shocking than anything featured in Salò. The only good thing I gained from watching this movie is that I can now cross it off of my "Shocking films to review" list. If you're looking for something shocking by modern standards, skip it. Actually, I can't really give any reasons not to skip it, unless you want to be able to say that you have seen it. No endorsement here. 2 stars.
** out of *****
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