Excellent review. You manage to capture the film's artistic nuances and thought-provoking themes, while not glossing over the film's intense, and frankly, often disgusting scenes. Your analysis is well thought out, and your ability to add levity to the discussion of such disturbing subject matter is commendable. Great work.
I haven't had the fortitude to watch this film, but I've seen so many recaps and scenes I feel like I have, but your review and analysis is the best one out there imo. Well done 👏
I have known Salo since it was shown late at night in Spanish TV in the early 90s, years later got the VHS and the DVD. I have also read Sade’s incomplete book, but I wouldn’t call it his masterpiece, I believe Justine is better considered, and even Juliette or The Philosophy of the Boudoir. Your philosophical and political part of the review is astounding. The ending, when the two collaborators are dancing and speaking about their girlfriends, indifferent to the atrocities they have been forced to do, is horrifying. This movie is a difficult masterpiece. Paolo Bonacelli, the bearded villain, is the only real professional actor in the movie. He played also the Turkish snitch in Midnight Express and the priest led in a taxi by Roberto Benigni in Night On Earth. I really enjoyed your video.
The film is actually pretty good. It has horrific scenes and the circle of shit part is absolutely the most disgusting. Still the film is a pertinent critic on mankind's condition. For many years hearing about its reputation I had thought it would be something along the style of mondo bizarre or pink flamingos which are absolute rubbish but this film is a very well written metaphor.
It is a disturbing film but a masterpiece of cinema by Pasolini who dared to bring it to the screen. He used the brutality of Fascism to illustrate Sade's disturbing novel. It is what it is from the source material by the man who one attributes sadism. BTW Hitler was also into coprophilia. This the best and most complete analysis of Salo that I have seen. Thank you, Nolan. Please continue as your insight, explanation and coverage are excellent.
Hitler was not into coprophilia. That is a blatant lie. Hate him all you want but he was repulsed by the deviance and depravity in the Weimar Republic -where such acts were being committed and he wanted such depravity stamped out. Most of the scenes and plot line in Salo are taken directly from actual experiments the Soviets did to imprisoned Christian students in Romania.
I'm normally not a person to comment on RU-vid videos, but this one is so absurdly well made. I'm really glad you took a close look at the movie and dissected the political views and general themes contained in it. Please make more of these! It's really refreshing to have a left-wing person look at these pieces of art and the like, because (at least from my experience) the scene can be quite awful to anyone non-cis/-white/-straight. Also, if you're interested in other philosophical resolutions to the existential problem of the meaning of life, I can only recommend Camus' the myth of sysiphos. With best antifascist regards from Germany
Your inclusion of the political philosophy of the film was fantastic. I do think this was Passolini's genius intervention as director. Sade's 120 days of Sodom could be done differently, with its implications similar to Georges Bataille's writing on the penal gland-- directing so much attention at the base matter so as to experience fecal reality as elation, the Fall from which would be towards the sun, the head, God... Passolini's interpretation and decision to set Sade's circles of hell in Salo made the film in its own right a masterpiece.
Saló is a controversial film. I'm Italian and we well known Pasolini here. After the movie he was killed . He wanted to show the hypocricy of fascism that promoted loyalty family And honor...but in the reality, fascists were just criminals. Perversion, rape and sexual abuse were perpetrated during that era and after... Thinking they were untuochables some of them after the second world war they used mansions for criminal abuse against poor people ..thinking to have the right to do what they want just because they were privileged. Read the history of the circeo's monster. Pasolini reported this reality in the movie undermeaning that in this country fascism never ended. Pasolini saied that after second world war fascists were still in power trought capitalism system..saying that capitalism refine the old technique to mask better monsters of our era. After is death we had terrorism for 10 years...and everyone even top managers they paid attention of every move they did.
The most disturbing film I’ve ever sat through is “Goodbye Uncle Tom”, or “Addio Zio Tom”. I’d be interested to see how you think it stacks up against this.
interesting review, I have never concidered that aspect of contra-fascism. Thank you for enlightening review. I just thought it was a terrible film that was made to be grosse and inspired by the book.
An essential film, one I would argue to be a masterpiece, but a work that will always alienate and vex its audiences. It's a film that implicates the viewer in enduring its content, and I respect that no one is let off the hook in regard to this work--Pasolini confronts and accuses all of humanity here. Sade saw himself as a philosopher, with his protagonists wont to express elaborate rationalizations for their conduct, and the philosophizing the four dignitaries indulge in in the film reflects this. This also underscores how the film, though ostensibly an attack on fascism, is more fundamentally a cry against the monstrous impulses of the species, as Sade lived and wrote before fascism, and the original story is actually set in the era before Sade was even born. While definitely having produced a disturbing work, Pasolini does not seek to disturb and disgust for their own sake, but rather uses these as tools for awareness and even enlightenment, and we can see from the current resurgence of fascism around the world how important and urgent his message remains.
Bad ADR was addressed in another video somewhere else on RU-vid. All Italian movies, from the beginning of sound film to the late 1980s, were filmed silent and then dubbed, for one reason only. It was THE LAW. Before the dubbing stage, the scripts had to be read annd approved by government officials, also The LAW. The Fascist Dictator Mussolini made it illegal to make sound movies in Italy any other way. After Mussolini was deposed, for many decades after, this way remained law.
Well-researched and lucid overview of Marquis de Sade and Pier Paolo Pasolini's love child of Salo: 120 Days of Sodom. When I saw it back in college, I thought it was more of a gross-out exploitation film, though your review and the supporting materials that went along with it allowed me to appreciate its merits, even as so much of the film was over the top scenes of depravity, though with a better understanding of shit how quick fascists are to eat the shit that is presented to them.
@@ThruHerSkull I made it myself. But funny enough I'm pretty sure Jonathon Doe from the channel Cinema's Underbelly sells/sold a near identical one as merch.
also wtf was this at 11:10 ? as someone who read most of Nietzsche's books, I can assure you that first he was not a mustache man enthusiast, on the contrary, he also HATED nihilism, his whole work is a "remedy against nihilism" and the fact ppl now associate him with it is the greatest disservice to one of the greatest minds that ever existed ... pls read him and you'll understand why he'd absolutely detest this movie and it's characters. citing him only means you can justify anything with anything and that they are mentally ill aristocrats, the exact type Nietzsche hated and described to most prone to nihilism (which once again he opposed with all he had)
First: I called him a "mustache enthusiast" due to his noticeably large and impressive facial hair. This is a literary device known as 'a joke.' Second: I said Nietzsche is credited as a founder of nihilism. This is true. Even if he himself would reject the title, it is a title people frequently put upon him. Third: I mentioned how his work was altered after his death to lead to conclusions he did not support. In fact that was literally the entire POINT of bringing him up. The obvious, can't believe you missed it, point I made is that fascists MISuse philosophy (particularly Nietzsche) to justify actions that the philosophy/philosopher would never support. Hence calling it a "contradiction." And my contention is that this is an idea the film is trying to convey.
@@invernapro why lie bro lmao. you say that clearly (like most propaganda against him) to say he's an Hitle* supported, --second no it's not fair and right. if you fight your whole life against pedos, would you be glad to be called one after you die ? this is exactly the situaton. -third, you clearly didn't read his books because he turns from antisemitism and nationalism way before his insanity and explains it clearly (the whole Wagner situation) -it's not that obvious since you didn't even mention it yourself (but I did mention how they were just using a justification), maybe rewatch your own video but you clearly say it like fascists actually respect nietzsche to the letter, which they don't. the whole argument you have against Nietzsche is literally communist propaganda back to back, and nihilism, which is why it's so ironic. never ever take ppl from up high saying sht like "This is a literary device known as 'a joke.'" when your only arguments against literal killers and r*pists is "they re bad cause they're nietzschean fascists" and other nihilist commie bs
Yeah, this will be my last response to this: 12:23 - 12:48 Despite becoming the poster boy for the nazis his work was edited after his death to remove Nietzsche's statements Against antisemitism and nationalism (key aspects of fascism). Thus giving us the first contradiction; you can only use nihilism [or Nietzsche] to support fascism IF you cut out core aspects of nihilism [or Nietzsche]. In other words, as that portion of the video clearly states: Nietzsche would NOT have supported fascism, his work was misused by fascists.
My issue with fascism is not their philosophical associations to nihilism and/or Nietzsche. My issue with fascism is that fascist are pedophilic, murdering, racist monsters. I bring up philosophical contradictions in fascism as part of an analysis of this film. The film is an antifascist work. It consistently depicts fascists quoting philosophers sandwiched between them doing acts or horrific cruelty. (Something I say word for word in this video). The film exhibits the contradiction of the image of fascism as an intellectual pursuit with the reality of fascism as evil. As a lover of Nietzsche's work you should be thrilled I pointed out how fascists misuse him to further their monstrous ideas.
@@invernapro yes and you did a good job honestly, just the mischaracterization of his ideas, especially nihilism, brings out the possibility he would accept this. anyways ...
