Does anybody like "Salo" (1975)?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Drama
I love hutch — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 12:34 AM)
I think it's an awful movie. I've liked some other things by Pasolini, but this was a gross exercise in self-indulgence. But I know some people like it. One of my best friends loves it. I don't even know what to think about this.
If there was a point the director was trying to make, it seems like that point got lost in all the excess.
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FreeHugs — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 01:14 AM)
Here is my original review of the film:
"Disturbing. Disgusting. Shocking. Thrilling. Mesmerizing. Brilliant. Unforgettable. A must see for all true film buffs. Not an easy watch but very rewarding."
I would add that it is a very effectively directed film. Salo packs a punch and is a compelling film and a wild experience. The performances are very good and the screenplay is sharp and smart. -
Platonic_Caveman — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 03:06 AM)
His death was rumored to be payback for "Salo". He was murdered right after its release.
Many believed his death to be revenge style mafia killing. Twenty-nine years after the event in May 2005, Pelosi retracted his confession, claiming that he was forced to confess under the threat of violence to his family. He said that three people with a Southern accent had murdered the politically engaged director, insulting him as a “dirty communist”.
http://www.italianinsider.it/?q=node/5667
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Platonic_Caveman — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 04:32 AM)
I think the timing was too coincidental.
I myself was disgusted by the savage torture of innocent children. I can never watch the film again. Obviously many were repulsed by the sadism and believed it crossed a line.
Even the Mafioso have children they love. Mafia can be classified as fascistic by nature and right wing. And Pasolini was associated with left wing causes.
Conservative Catholics and the remnants of Mussolini's fan club were not amused by the film. And since Pasolini had a record of sexual crimes against children, they saw him as inherently evil.
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Woodyanders — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 01:29 AM)
I'm a big fan of Salo. One of the best movies ever made about the stark horrors of reducing people to the level of objects to be used and then discarded after they serve their purpose. I work in retail, so I totally get that point.
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I love hutch — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 02:02 AM)
You mean like as in consumerism as a metaphor?
There may be intelligence here, but it's buried deep. Of course, I haven't seen it in 20 years. The scenes of eating poop are too gross and I can't watch them. And the boy who gets his tongue cut out of his mouth and the girl who gets scalped are too vividly cruel. The old ladies talking out their fantasies seems to lend "Salo" an elegance, but to me, the movie is only slightly less offensive (though much better made) than "Hostel", which was also about the cruel exploitation and destruction of youth and beauty and innocence. And it wouldn't surprise me a bit to learn that Eli Roth was inspired by this film when he made the "Hostel" movies.
I guess I can't say "Salo" is a bad film per se, but it's a movie I can say I don't like one bit. Maybe that's fairer. I don't know.
For a movie about humans being treated like cattle, I think it doesn't get any better than "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" And it doesn't spare us any of the horrors, either. That movie is relentless. That there are fleeting moments of tenderness only makes the movie even more devastating.
Of course, I realize it is possible to like and admire both of these films.
The second "elimination race", in particular, drains me. But I can't take my eyes off the characters. And I think it's Jane Fonda's best performance. The crack in her voice @ 3:08 when she wails "I'm tired of losing" is chilling.
"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!" -
Cheeky — 4 years ago(September 26, 2021 02:04 AM)
Oh, you have my deepest sympathies. I was a retail worker too
Granted, most people are nice but it's hard to tolerate the rude asses
If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana -
I love hutch — 4 years ago(August 29, 2021 02:18 AM)
All I can in De Sade's defense is that better for him to have expressed his perverse, sick sexual fantasies on paper rather than to have acted them out in real life. In the book, one of the characters masturbates while watching a pregnant woman being disemboweled.
I know watching the movie did not enhance me in any way.
"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"