Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Pier Paolo Pasolini wrote and directed this Italian-French drama, which moves the Marquis de Sade's novel The 120 Days of Sodom to the final years of Mussolini's regime in northern Italy. Four men of power and standing, a Duke, a Bishop, a Magistrate and a President, take a group of young men and women to an isolated villa guarded by soldiers. There the four impose a ruthless set of rules over a period of 120 days, holding absolute power over their captives and punishing any breach with death. The film follows the four figures and their household through this closed world.

Pasolini's fifteenth film as director, it followed Arabian Nights and was made with Pupi Avati and Sergio Citti among its writers and Alberto Grimaldi among its producers. Paolo Bonacelli plays the Duke, with Giorgio Cataldi, Uberto Paolo Quintavalle and Aldo Valletti as the other three, while Caterina Boratto and Elsa De Giorgi appear among the women of the house. The credited cast runs to 47 and the crew to 46.

Box office returns were modest at about 2 million dollars, but the film has drawn lasting attention. On IMDb it holds 7 out of 10 from 92 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 6.3 out of 10 from 2,369 votes. A critics' rating of 6.7 out of 10 from 42 reviews places it close to the audience scores.