Salo: 120 Days of Sodam is not a new movie. Released in 1975 it tells a story based on a novel by the Marquis de Sade. It’s like this; WWII is fast coming to an end in Italy and four old buddies think they’ll go out with a bit of a party. There’s The Bishop, The Magistrate, The Duke and The President (of what, I’m not sure). What better way celebrate the end of the war than to round up all the teenagers in the town by force and subject them to the most inhumane and sexually depraved acts a mind could ever conceive. This movie is like a roller coaster without the ups; it just goes down. It is so gut wrenching that I had to turn away as the final act was carried out by The President upon a young man while The Bishop looks on… and masterbates.

Salo was banned in Australia – twice. First in 1975 and again in 1998 after being approved in 1993. It’s just been re-approved for DVD distribution in Australia and not everyone is happy about that. Especially the Christians. And for the first time, I don’t think they’re wrong.

I can’t remember exactly when I saw it (some where between 93 and 96) but I will never forget it. Two friends and I had discovered the Red Eye Cinema in Surry Hills. It made for an artsy change to the mega cinemas up on George Street. A couple of weeks earlier we had seen Andy Warhol’s ‘Frankenstein’ in 3D and that was hugely entertaining with livers and hearts being dangled right in front of your face and blood squirting onto the person next to you. Brilliant ’70s schlock. Salo however, makes Tarantino look like he isn’t even trying.

Salo is not entertaining nor thought provoking. It’s a demonstration of how to make a movie to shock. Obviously the blood from the stabbing, shooting, raping, murdering, butchering and slaughtering is not real. Nor any of the other activities just mentioned. The DVD versions comes with 3 hours of additional material as sort of a rationale for the movie. I haven’t seen it so I can’t comment but it sounds to me more like a 3 hour excuse when it should really be a 3 hour apology.

Please don’t see this movie. Your life will be complete enough without adding it to your 1000-films-to-see-before-you-die list.