Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom Reviews

Éste film lo ponen siempre en las listas de películas perturbadoras que dejan traumados de por vida a quienes las ven. Por eso, francamente, odio las listas de películas perturbadoras, porque son decepcionantes y solo dicen basura amarillista, cuando las películas que muestran son solo shock barato para apantallar a gente fácil de impresionar. Y esta película no es la excepción.

No he leído el libro, por lo que no la juzgaré como una adaptación.

Cuando se trata de crear shock, creo que es importante hacer una pregunta: ¿Para qué? Hay quienes solo buscan ser espectaculares, y hay quienes quieren o aparentan dar un mensaje, como "A Clockwork Orange". Pues "Salo" optó por lo segundo. Pier Paolo Pasolini al ser marxista y habiendo vivido la Italia de Mussolini, usó la obra del Marqués de Sade para mostrar su visión del fascismo. Una visión donde los miembros de este movimiento son inescrupulosos, secuestran a quienes quieran para satisfacer sus deseos más perversos y los obligan a hacer lo que ellos digan. Pero una cosa es el mensaje y otra es la calidad de la película, que es donde tenemos problemas.

Pues, como era de esperarse, la película está repleta de escenas shockeantes que se sienten gratuitas. La película no sabe tomar un descanso, y no lo digo porque tanto shock nos deje traumados, todo lo contrario, es porque se vuelve aburrido. Si de por sí la película tiene un ritmo lento, se vuelve aún más tediosa con demasiadas escenas fuertes. Yo ya estaba harto de que siempre pusieran escenas de la vieja que les cuenta a todos sus aventuras sexuales que siempre terminaban en eyaculación.

En el apartado actoral es donde menos se ve favorecida. Las actuaciones son malas, todas, son incluso repetitivas en gestos. Joder, era desesperante ver al presidente siempre con esa sonrisa de imbécil.
Tampoco se destacan los personajes, porque simplemente, unos están locos y los otros son carne de cañón. No poseen ninguna característica que los haga mínimamente interesantes, no hay ninguna profundidad ó desarrollo.

Aunque en general la fotografía no está mal, y hay veces que se nota que fue cámara en mano, no pude evitar notar que hay veces que la cámara estaba inclinada a la izquierda. Solo un pequeño detalle que quise comentar.

Tampoco consideraría destacable el final, porque son solo adolescentes torturados y viejos enfermos que se emocionan por tal espectáculo y bailan.

Esto fue "Salo", la única película que se cobró la vida de su director, cosa que me hace pensar que Pasolini murió en vano. Pues no hay muchas cosas positivas que decir de esta película de shock del montón. Bien se la puedes mostrar a un fan de Eli Roth y creerá que es una obra de arte.

Lo siento Pasolini.

In spite of or because of its controversial reputation, I was quite eager to check this movie. On top of that, it had been years since I saw a movie directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Well, eventually, it definitely deserves its reputation as it was easily one of the most f*cked-up movies I have ever seen and I have seen quite a lot of weird and messed-up flicks. In fact, the sex scenes were not so unbearable but it was the first time I saw a movie dealing with scatology and these scenes were just awful to behold. Later on, it didn't get much better with some horrible torture scenes. Seriously, compared to this movie, such movies like 'Saw' or 'Hostel' were pretty much like a walk in a park. Eventually, what was Pasolini's point? In my opinion, he wanted to show that Fascism was and still is the most decadent, depraved and insane political ideology that ever existed. Still, even though I have a weak spot for nightmarish movies, Pasolini went really far here and I think I will remain nauseous for a couple of days after watching this flick. Anyway, to conclude, I'm not sure if I should recommend it, I will probably never re-watch it ever again and you should be fully aware of its content before watching the damned thing.

I thought this movie was deeply disturbing but I found it rather dull, boring and with no disturbing atmosphere at all, movies like Cannibal Holocaust had disturbing moments due to the shaky camera effect and the great soundtrack, but this movie with it's lame piano music as the only music in the entire movie had no disturbing atmosphere at all, it seemed there was one act after the other, nothing really unexpected happened-pretty disappointing movie IMO! I've seen worse at a younger age when I rented some extreme sado-maso/fetish movies. as I said before a disturbing movie is in my opinion only created by some intelligent camerawork and a great soundtrack which was here not the case. I found even the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) more disturbing than this pervert fascist pig flick.

The most disgusting movie I have ever watched, and I'm not squeamish. It is also a little bit arousing. It can easily bе labeled as some sick porn.

I've seen plenty of movies I positively detested, movies so god-awful and atrociously made that it gives me hope as a filmmaker, considering I could do a better job in my fucking sleep. But it is very, very, VERY rare that I find a movie that I actually regretted watching. Even with the worst of the worst movies I've subjected myself to, I never regretted watching them because they gave me insight into how awful movies could be, and honestly sometimes it's fun to complain about them. And then there's Salo.

Now, to be fair, Salo is objectively probably the BEST movie on my least favorites list. It's shot beautifully, the acting is fine, and the writing and direction are both coherent. Having said that, not one single day goes by that I don't regret popping it into my DVD player. This is undoubtedly the single most disturbing film I've ever sat through (so far). Images from this movie continuously burst into my head and I feel like a disgusting pervert for dignifying this film with my attention. For those unaware, the film is nothing but scenes of rape, molestation, feces and torture (and I mean horrifically violent acts). Oh, and a woman telling stories about how she was fed laxatives and shat into men's mouths as a teenager. Throughout the film, fascist hedonists subject teenagers to the most ungodly tortures you could ever comprehend...just because. The message Pasolini was trying to get across, it seems, is that degradation of the human body is wrong, and that if we do it through pornography, what's stopping us from doing this? That is, without a doubt, the flimsiest and most asinine reason for showing such horrifying imagery. If one wanted to make a movie saying pornography is wrong, make one stating that point. Don't show me scenes that will disturb me for years to come.

I am not a prude. I am not one of those people who thinks anything edgy or controversial or violent is wrong or should be banned. Stanley Kubrick's filmography, for instance, is a shining example of controversy with just the right amount of disturbing events and imagery. As disturbing as A Clockwork Orange was, it had PLENTY of other things going for it. Aside from snuff films and anything involving other illegal activity, I don't think any film should be censored or banned. I respect Pasolini's choice to have made this movie. But that doesn't mean I have to give it consistent praise because it was "different".

Yes, I realize I brought this upon myself by watching it, so it is my own fault. That's an error I'll have to live with my entire life, I'm afraid, so I would advise you innocent readers to never see this movie. Trust me, there are plenty of other well-made films out there that deserve your time and attention. This is nothing but shock value bullshit.

This movie most definitely changed my life. Sadism in its purest form. Pasolini made a masterpiece.