When I saw the torture scene at the end, I literally exclaimed "Oh my God! Oh my God!" as I grabbed my chest in horror and disgust. I was the only one watching Salo in the dark so I was trying to comfort myself. Just the name itself "Salo or the 120 days of Sodom" is scary and dark considering Sodom was a city so wicked, the God of the Bible destroyed it.
In this review, I'll give a non-spoiler review first then a spoiler review.
Non-spoiler review:
Cinematography:
Despite Salo being a horrifying film, the cinematography is beautiful. I loved seeing beautiful camera shots of rich and extravagant buildings at the beginning of the movie. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to soothe me from the horrors to come.
Dialogue:
The dialogue in Salo or the 120 days of Sodom was bone-chilling and disturbing. It built up horror and tension very well.
Acting:
The acting is great, especially the actors who played the Libertines. The actors' reactions and dialogue made Salo or the 120 days of Sodom scarier than the torture itself.
Soundtrack:
For much of Salo or the 120 days of Sodom, the libertines played the soundtrack. That was disturbing and creative.
Story:
The story is about fascists who kidnap adolescents and subject them to 120 days of torture.
I must confess this movie is not for everyone. Salo or the 120 days of Sodom was disturbing because the torture was realistic. It was not excessively gory or meant for shock value and entertainment like typical slasher horror movies. If you're looking for that, don't watch this movie. There are no jump scares, obviously fake blood, etc. Just terror.
Themes:
I loved the complex themes of Salo or the 120 days of Sodom. I feel like there's more than one way to interpret the film.
Overall, Salo or the 120 days of Sodom is one of the scariest and shocking horror movies ever made. If you can get past the horror and grotesque nature of the film, you can see how it's a masterpiece. I highly suggest you buy it on DVD!
Spoiler review:
Cinematography:
Despite Salo being a horrifying film, the cinematography is beautiful. I loved seeing beautiful camera shots of rich and extravagant buildings at the beginning of the movie. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to soothe me from the horrors to come. The cinematography was incredible. As the torture is happening, the camera is recording everything from a distance. It's to make you feel disassociated from what's being shown. The set designs are special because they're minimalistic and simple, forcing you to focus on what's shown in front of you.
The camera shots at the circle of death scene increased the dread felt when watching the teens get tortured. This scene was disturbing not from a story point of view but also because the camera angles make you feel like you're a voyeur like the libertines.
Dialogue:
The dialogue in Salo or the 120 days of Sodom was bone-chilling and disturbing. It built up horror and tension very well.
Soundtrack:
For much of Salo or the 120 days of Sodom, the libertines played the soundtrack. That was disturbing and creative. The soundtrack made Salo scarier especially during the circle of death scene. The libertines drown out the horrifying screams, shrieks, and groans of pain from the teens with classical music. This made this scene more horrifying because you're left to imagine what sounds they made while they were tortured.
Acting:
The acting is great, especially the actors who played the Libertines. The actors' reactions and dialogue made Salo or the 120 days of Sodom scarier than the torture itself.
Story:
The story is about fascists who kidnap adolescents and subject them to 120 days of torture.
Salo does a fantastic job of creating dread and learned helplessness. The scene where the libertines give the children the rules is a good example. The servants watching the children know something is terribly wrong but the libertines scare them away.
I was deeply disturbed by the woman telling the story of how she was abused as a child. This realistically shows victims of child abuse can become abusers if they don't peacefully resolve their trauma.
The scene where the libertines point a gun at a boy's head and act like they're going to shoot him but don't. What they say afterward is ruthless and cruel.
The scene where the man forces a girl to eat his defecation was the most disturbing and intense scenes of Salo or the 120 days of Sodom. She's forced to eat it or suffer a worse fate. As a viewer, I didn't want her to do either which made me feel worse.
I was disturbed when the libertines revealed they killed their own mothers. We get no flashbacks which is more terrifying.
We don't learn the victims' names which shows how dehumanized they are. I was disturbed by the various reactions from the adolescents. Some are disassociated, others try to escape, etc. It felt real.
The ending was highly disturbing and scary. The young libertines learn the sadistic and sick cruelties from the older ones. Although the kids went home free, they could never be the same. Their souls will be corrupted by the horrors in Salo. Technically, they're not free because of the extreme trauma they endured.
Theme:
Salo or the 120 days of Sodom has a complex theme. I have two interpretations. One is a political message on capitalism. The hypocrisy of capitalism is the concept of all people being equal are not practiced. People with high social statuses get more privileges than lower classes. The lower class are treated like cattle.
The other way I interpreted it is a message on child abuse. Salo or the 120 days of Sodom exposes the horrors of child abuse. Adults are sick enough to prey on the most vulnerable of society to gratify selfish and vile desires - children. What you see in Salo or the 120 days of Sodom happens more often than people think. It doesn't matter what people's social statuses are, how intelligent they are, how rich they are, etc. Child abuse happens at all levels of society. Salo exposes the disturbing reality that child abuse can happen to anyone. If abusers have enough power and money, they can escape justice.
These themes are what made Salo or the 120 days of Sodom horrifying.
Overall, Salo or the 120 days of Sodom is one of the scariest and shocking horror movies ever made. Salo is powerful because it makes you realize you have a dark sadistic nature like the libertines that you refuse to acknowledge. If you didn't, why would you watch the film in the first place? If you can get past the horror and grotesque nature of the film, you can see how it's a masterpiece. I highly suggest you buy it on DVD!
How would you benefit from buying this DVD?
DVDs are cheaper than streaming - Streaming sites are a waste of money. When you compare the time you're not using your monthly subscription to the time you are, you'll see you're not getting your money's worth. It's worse if your internet is poor to where your movies buffer. You're wasting money paying monthly fees. If you pay more for better internet, that's even worse. With DVDs, you only make one-time buys which save you a ton of money long-term.
DVDs have tangible ownership, streams don't - When you buy DVDs, you technically own them. With streams, you only pay for permission to watch them. If a company no longer wants to have its content in say Netflix's library, the company can request Netflix to remove it. You won't be able to stream it anymore. If a company stops selling a movie on DVD, that's the worst thing they can do. The company won't bother to confiscate your DVD.
DVDs have exclusive content, streams don't - DVDs (namely special editions) have much more content than streaming services such as extended editions, unrated editions, deleted scenes, interviews, "making of" documentaries, etc. Movie streams don't. Typically, streaming services play only standard editions of movies. This DVD set has Salo : Yesterday and Today, a 33 minute 2002 documentary featuring interviews with director Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor filmmaker Jean Claude Biette, and Pasolini friend Ninetto Davoli
Fade to Black, a 23 minute 2001 documentary featuring directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury, as well as scholar David Forgacs, the End of Salo, a 40 minute documentary about the film's production. Video interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and director and film scholar Jean Pierre Gorin. It has deleted concepts that were more grotesquely violent than the official version!
You can resell DVDs but not streams - You can resell DVDs since you have tangible ownership of them. With streams, you don't own them so you can't. Once again, you save a ton more money buying DVDs than streaming.
DVDs have better quality than streams - Quality is determined by bitrate. Higher bitrate means higher quality video and audio. Quality can also be affected by codec encoding and compression techniques. Regular DVDs run at 6-8 megabits per second. Streams usually play movies at lower rates. Netflix for example plays movies at around 5 megabits with a standard connection. This DVD set has high definition digital restoration.
DVDs don't require Internet, streams do - If your internet connection or streaming service fails, you won't be able to finish watching your favorite movies and shows. Nothing is worse than watching one of the most critical and intense scenes in a movie only to be interrupted by say internet lag. It ruins the viewing experience. With DVDs, you don't have those problems.
DVDs look fantastic on display! - DVDs will make your room look much more alive with its stunning physical artwork! There's nothing like holding a DVD of your favorite film in your hands! With streaming, everything belongs to the streaming service. It can feel like you're just renting your favorite films.
New copy.
Used copy.
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