Unless I get the Blu-ray of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, I guess tomorrow I'll be watching (for the first time) Passolini's SALO. I can't say that I'm looking forward to it. His movies of the 1970s seemed to push the perversity button just for the sake of being outrageous, and from everything I've ever read about this, his last film, it's no different.
To be frank, I am a staunch admirer of SALO. I recently watched a handmade dvd (uncut and anamorphic) which was in Italian without subtitles and still found it to be a mesmerizing excursion into the realm of De Sade. Truthfully, there is one scene which I find repulsive, but I feel that had any hack director made this same film, there would not have, and still be, such controversy surrounding it. Pasolini was well-known stateside for his Saint Matthew epic and to a lesser degree for his trio of Medieval Tales. The Tales Triology has some darkness, but are mostly light-hearted romps populated by a beautiful bevy of youths of both genders.
SALO turns these literary tales inside out; the youths are still there and beautiful, but the darkness of fascism and the literary pedigree puts a dander on any fun and frivolity.
SALO is, to me, a very interesting film, but definitely not one I revisit more than once a year.
I'll be very interested in reading your thoughts on the film AND on the Criterion release.
