Pier Paolo Pasolini was murdered shortly before his final film hit theaters. That’s not a conspiracy theory; it’s a grim fact of cinema history. When people talk about the 120 Days of Sodom movie, they usually call it Salò. It’s a film that exists in a permanent state of controversy. It has been banned, seized by customs, and decried as pure filth for nearly fifty years. But if you’re looking for a "horror movie" in the traditional sense, you’re going to be disappointed. It’s something much worse. It’s a political statement wrapped in the most repulsive imagery ever captured on 35mm film.
Honestly, most people can’t finish it. I’ve seen seasoned film critics walk out of screenings feeling physically ill. It’s not just the gore. It’s the clinical, cold way Pasolini observes the degradation of the human body. He doesn’t give you a hero. He doesn’t give you a cathartic ending where the bad guys get what’s coming to them. He just shows you power. Raw, unchecked, fascistic power.
What is the 120 Days of Sodom movie actually about?
Most people think it’s just an adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s unfinished 18th-century novel. It is, but Pasolini did something much smarter—and more dangerous. He moved the setting to 1944 in the Republic of Salò, a puppet state of Nazi Germany in Northern Italy. This simple change turns a book about sexual perversion into a movie about the death of democracy.
The plot is deceptively simple. Four wealthy, powerful libertines—The Duke, The Bishop, The Magistrate, and The President—kidnap eighteen teenagers. They take them to a secluded villa. For 120 days, these teens are subjected to three "cycles" of escalating horror: the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit, and the Circle of Blood. It’s a descent into hell, structured like Dante’s Inferno.
But here’s the thing: Pasolini wasn’t trying to turn you on. He was trying to disgust you. He once famously said that the film was a metaphor for "the commodification of the body." Basically, he believed that modern consumerism does to our souls what the fascists in his movie do to the kids. It’s a bleak, cynical worldview that suggests we are all just meat in the eyes of those in power.
Why Salò remains banned in so many places
The censorship history of the 120 Days of Sodom movie is a legal nightmare. In the UK, the BBFC refused to certify it for decades. It wasn't legally available there until 2000, and even then, it was with a permanent "18" rating and a warning that would scare off most casual viewers. Australia banned it, then unbanned it, then banned it again.
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Why?
The "Circle of Shit" is usually the breaking point. This isn't just movie magic; Pasolini used a mixture of chocolate and orange marmalade to simulate the scenes, but the psychological impact on the audience is real. It’s meant to represent the way power forces us to consume things that are beneath human dignity. It's grotesque. It’s foul. And it's exactly what Pasolini wanted. He didn't want you to have a good time at the theater. He wanted you to feel the weight of the atrocities.
The actors, interestingly enough, had a completely different experience. Despite the onscreen brutality, many of the young "victims" reported that the set was actually quite lighthearted. Pasolini was protective of his cast. He treated them like family. This creates a strange dissonance when you watch the film. You know it’s art, but your lizard brain is screaming at you to turn it off.
The strange, violent death of Pier Paolo Pasolini
You can't talk about the 120 Days of Sodom movie without talking about what happened to its director on November 2, 1975. Pasolini was found beaten to death on a beach in Ostia. A 17-year-old "hustler" named Giuseppe Pelosi was charged with the murder, but many believe it was a political assassination.
Pasolini was a Marxist, a homosexual, and a provocateur. He had enemies everywhere—the church, the government, the far-right. Some believe he was killed because of what Salò represented. The film is a middle finger to every institution in Italy. It exposes the rot at the heart of the ruling class. When the movie finally premiered at the Paris Film Festival shortly after his death, it was seen as a final, bloody testament.
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Breaking down the aesthetic of atrocity
The cinematography in the 120 Days of Sodom movie is weirdly beautiful. Tonino Delli Colli, who also shot films for Sergio Leone, used a palette of browns, greys, and muted golds. It looks like a Renaissance painting that has started to decay. The camera is usually static. It doesn't zoom or pan wildly. It just sits there. Watching.
This "objective" camera style is what makes the film so hard to watch. In a modern horror movie, the camera usually "hides" the monster to build tension. Pasolini does the opposite. He puts the monster in the center of the frame in broad daylight. There is nowhere to hide. You are forced to be a voyeur. You are, in a sense, an accomplice.
The four pillars of the film’s power structure
The movie is organized around four distinct types of authority.
The Duke represents the Nobility.
The Bishop represents the Church.
The Magistrate represents the Law.
The President represents the Executive.
By having these four men commit the atrocities, Pasolini is saying that every major pillar of society is complicit in the destruction of the individual. They use "the rules" to justify their madness. They even hire storytellers—older women who tell graphic tales—to provide a soundtrack to their crimes. It’s a meta-commentary on art itself. Is art just a way to distract us from the truth of human suffering?
How to watch it (if you actually want to)
If you’re going to watch the 120 Days of Sodom movie, don’t go in looking for a "slasher" flick. It’s more of a philosophical treatise. The Criterion Collection has a high-quality restoration that includes several documentaries about the making of the film. These are essential. They provide the context you need to understand that this isn't just "shlock."
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Watch it in the original Italian with subtitles. The dubbing in the older versions is distracting and takes away from the cold, detached performances of the four libertines. Specifically, watch Paolo Bonacelli as the Duke. His performance is terrifying because he treats his horrific actions as mundane chores.
Practical takeaways for the brave viewer
- Don't watch it alone. This is a movie that needs to be discussed afterward. It sits heavy in the gut.
- Context is everything. Read up on the Republic of Salò and the end of the Mussolini era before hitting play. It makes the political satire much sharper.
- Acknowledge the discomfort. If you feel disgusted, the movie is working. It’s not a failure of the film; it’s the point.
- Look for the subtext. Notice how the "masters" constantly quote poetry and philosophy while committing crimes. It’s Pasolini’s way of saying that "high culture" doesn't make a person moral.
- Check the rating. This is a hardcore 18+ film for a reason. Keep it far away from kids or anyone sensitive to sexual violence.
The 120 Days of Sodom movie isn't something you "enjoy." It’s something you survive. It remains a vital piece of cinema because it refuses to blink. In a world that often tries to sanitize history and power, Pasolini’s final work stands as a scream in the dark. It’s ugly, it’s hateful, and it’s undeniably important.
To understand the film's legacy, compare it to modern "extreme" cinema like A Serbian Film or the Hostel series. Those movies aim to shock for the sake of entertainment. Salò aims to shock for the sake of awakening. It wants you to be so disgusted by the screen that you start looking at the real world with more critical eyes. That is the true power of Pasolini’s nightmare.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Understanding
If you want to understand the full scope of this work, look into the "Trilogy of Life" which Pasolini filmed right before Salò. It consists of The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, and Arabian Nights. These films are joyful, sexual, and celebratory. Seeing them makes the total nihilism of the 120 Days of Sodom movie even more shocking, as it represents a complete 180-degree turn in Pasolini's view of humanity. You can also research the "Pasolini Case" archives to see how the investigation into his death has been reopened multiple times over the decades, reflecting the ongoing political tension his work created.