Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 25
Fresh: 17 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 1
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 13,359
Four fascist libertines round up 9 teenages boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental and sexual torture.
Jan 1, 1979 Wide
Aug 11, 1998
Water Bearer Films Inc.
All Critics (25) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (8) | DVD (13)
Very hard to take, but in its own way an essential work.
A perfect example of the kind of material that, theoretically, anyway, can be acceptable on paper but becomes so repugnant when visualized on the screen that it further dehumanizes the human spirit, which is supposed to be the artist's concern.
I can't think of a reason in the world that anyone should subject him or herself to this.
Pasolini illustrates his belief that society forces people to conform by making his victims turn on each other, then making the audience complicit. Just by watching, we are voyeurs, and Pasolini calls us out in the movie's final moments.
A bracing cinematic buzzkill, Salò will wipe that shit-eating grin right off your face.
By reputation alone, owning Salò should be enough to impress your cinephilic friends; watching it with them will be whole lot harder.
Dramatically feral and artistically fertile, "Salo" is a rigorous movie that dares to use the metaphor of torture as a device of utter physical and psychological annihilation for both the victim and the torturer.
It's very hard to sit through and offers no insights whatsoever into power, politics, history or sexuality. Nasty stuff.
While it is easy to think of Salò as simply depraved, it is ultimately a savage plea for humanity
Intended to be read as a caustic commentary on the evils of Fascism, Salo is marred by the uneasy perception that Pasolini (rather like purveyors of modern Torture Porn) is simply getting off on the abuse he visualizes with such delight.
Hate ****.
Fastidiously attuned to the denial of the comforting release of either eroticism or expulsion, Pasolini's boudoirs of perversion lack De Sade's scarlet hedonism. Quite the opposite, his boners reveal only the presence of spiritual rigor mortis.
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom is one of the most uncomfortable experiences you will have with an arguably classic film.
There's a sense of pure evil clinging to the film like nothing I've ever experienced. I do not believe this is unintentional, nor do I believe it is pointless.
The result, despite moments of undeniably brilliant insight, is nearly unwatchable, extremely disturbing, and often literally nauseous.
There are absolutely fascinating ways of reading and understanding this Pasolini epic. But would I ever want to watch it again? Probably not.
Shocking film.
Salo, or the 120 Days of Solom is not a film you're likely to seek out on your own. You pretty much have to be goaded into seeing it. It's one of the most controversial films ever made, despite the fact that it's all a work of fiction. It's based on true events (actually, the book it's derived from is), but if you
February 3, 2012
Super Reviewer
!Only for seasoned film-goers and Criterion Collectors! "I love Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom!" No, that shouldn't be any healthy person's reaction to this film. While it is relatively shocking, it's an interesting commentary on fascism and pushes the audience member from cinema-goer to voyeur. Maybe that's not so
August 13, 2011
Super Reviewer
| 35% | The Hangover Part II |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 81% | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
| 44% | Cowboys & Aliens |
| 83% | Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
| 25% | Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Par... |
| 88% | Lady and the Tramp |
| 69% | A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas |
| 21% | Fireflies in the Garden |
| 45% | The Rebound |
What are his 10 best movies ever?
See the all-new action-packed trailer!
Five new Marvelous pictures
Unconventional Superheroes