Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom 4K 1975

The film is based on the Marquis de Sade’s work *The 120 Days of Sodom*, which Pasolini linked to Italian history. The story takes place in the short-lived Republic of Salò, where Mussolini made his final stand during World War II. Four perverted fascists gain complete power over a group of attractive young prisoners of both sexes and subject them to a series of sexual tortures and humiliations. Pazolini sought to depict the exercise of power at its peak of sexual degradation, comparing it to fascism itself and portraying it as a philosophy that glorifies violence for violence’s sake. The film culminates in a brutal orgy in which the victims are killed, and although all of this shocks viewers, the film achieves its intended effect. Pasolini seeks to evoke not sexual arousal but revulsion, and he succeeds.