SALO (or The 120 Days of Sodom): The Criterion Collection (DVD)

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"Salo" is a beautiful film if you can look past anything that´s happening on screen, but the same can be said of many other films that are not nearly as nauseating. The décor and the decay is a marvel of set design and Tonino Delli Colli´s photography is exquisite. I suppose that only makes the film´s horrors that much more horrifying.

You´ve either been completely repulsed by this description of "Salo" or your curiosity is piqued. Proceed at your own risk. It´s not a film you´re going to forget.

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The transfer is excellent, though not absolutely spotless as many Criterions are: some minor signs of debris are visible at times. The image quality is razor sharp. I do not have the original release of the film but considering the quality of most of Criterion´s releases from the 1990s, I have no doubt this is a significant improvement.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. The film is offered both in the original Italian and an English-dubbed version, though I have no idea why anyone would want the dub. Optional English subtitles support the Italian audio.

Extras

The original Criterion release of "Salo" had no extras. This 2-disc set makes up for it.

Disc One presents the digitally restored film in both the original Italian and an English-dubbed version.

Disc Two has several documentaries and interviews.

"Salo: Today and Yesterday" (33 min), produced in 2002, features interviews with Pasolini as well as cast and crew, and shows footage of him shooting the film´s final scene.

"Fade to Black" (23 min) is a 2001 documentary short directed by Nigel Algar. Algar interviews directors Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury, as well as professor David Forgacs. Professional empty provocateuse Breillat is in usual form, claiming that "Salo" is "beautiful" and "not shocking" and blah blah blah.

"The End of ´Salo´" (40 min) is described as a documentary about the film´s ending but this is only a small part of the feature. This is the most interesting extra on the disc, particularly for the on-set photographs which show some of the scenes that didn´t make the final cut, including an electrocution of one the young women.

The collection wraps up with interviews with production designer Dante Ferretti (12 min) and Criterion´s new go-to guy Jean-Pierre Gorin (26 min.)

The insert booklet is one of the heftier ones Criterion has produced and contains several essays that I won´t list here. The best inclusion is an on-set diary.

Film Value

If you found Michael Haneke´s "Funny Games" (in either form) to be challenging viewing, then "Salo" may be way out of your league. Haneke listed "Salo" as one of the ten greatest films of all-time in the 2003 Sight and Sound poll, but his act of cinematic transgression positively pales next to Pasolini´s.

I understand why "Salo" was made. I respect it, but that doesn´t mean I have to appreciate it. Strip away the ideological justifications, and all you´re left with is a beautifully shot, meticulously crafted snuff film. For me, the end doesn´t justify the means.

"Salo" is undoubtedly an important film if for no other reason than the fact that it was made. Even more so, that it was made by such an accomplished director. It´s unfortunate that this film marks the end of Pasolini´s career: shortly after the film wrapped production, he was murdered under mysterious circumstances that remain unresolved today.

As a re-issue, this version of "Salo" has just about everything you could want except for the 25-second sequence that occurs around the 40-minute mark of the film. It´s a minor scene in which one character reads from a poem just before a grim parody of a wedding is performed. The scene is not found in most prints of the film.

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