Since having children there have been a number of films I find difficult to view. One of note is a popular one: Trainspotting. Specific to the child scene. I can’t watch films that deal with children being harmed or abused in certain ways. A level of realism churns me to the point of unable to watch the scenes before me. Even important films that question the political or societal nature of past/present/future. Simply put, I just can’t watch them.

I first realized this issue I have when we lived back east. Wife and kid were on a trip to the mid-west, and I was left to my own devices. I went to a speciality video store in the district and rented some Out Of Print (OOP) titles. Titles my wife would never be able to stomach. One of which was Salò. You might know of Salò as the most expensive OOP DVD ever (in some cases over $1000). For those that don’t know what Salò is, I’ll try my best:

Pier Paolo Pasolini
1975
(from the Criterion site)
A loose adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s The 120 Days of Sodom, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo is perhaps the most disturbing and disgusting film ever made. It is also one of the most important, offering a blistering critique of fascism and idealism that suggests moral redemption may be nothing but a myth.

Now, the part about “most important” got me interested. The “most disturbing” part had me intrigued. I’ve seen my share of exploitation films, hard core violent, out and out insane, so I figured I needed to see this film…20 minutes. I got though about 20 minutes before I had to turn it off. Disturbing doesn’t come close. I still have images burned in my brain that I can’t shake.

Why the recap? Where’s the point? I just read this from DVDFile.com:

Criterion has supposedly had issues renewing licenses for the film from the Pasolini estate, but as posted on Criterion’s official site: “Have we been able to renew our rights [to Salò]? Well, here’s the answer you weren’t expecting. Yes. We’re working on a brand new HD transfer now. It’ll be a totally new release and be out in 2007.”

So the reason I’ve never re-visited Salò was due in part to the inability of finding it without spending a fortune. Now, that it’s being re-released I’m toying with the idea of attempting to watch it all the way though. Maybe if I watch it with someone else it might allow for conversation though some of the harsher parts? I don’t know. I haven’t made up my mind yet.

So any of my friends out there that want to watch Salò with me?