It had been rumored. At one point Criterion had it listed as “Coming Soon” then pulled it off the site. It’s back with a release date of 8/26/08. I posted about this a while back. Never has a film repulsed me on a content level while blowing me away with the art direction and detail and respect of the material. I’m still on the fence about seeing this again (especially since I forced myself to turn it off mid way through due to the level of nausea I encountered). That being said, it is a film that has ingrained such an image and impression I have not been able to shake it 8 years later. For those unfamiliar with it, from the Criterion site:
“Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it’s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker’s transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.”
So I think I’ll still need to watch it with a core group of people, but I really don’t know who that would be? Not my wife. Not my family. Not my poker group. So that leaves a few friends that are scattered all around the world… If I do decide to watch it again (the entire film this time) I’ll be sure and post my review/reaction.