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I have heard people hail him as one of the most inovative filmmakers ever. I think he is just a hack who went for shock value.

I tried to sit through two of his films in the 1970s but was unable to. They were Arabian Nights and Canterbury Tales. I thought this would be high brow entertainment. These were his third and second to last films. His last film was The 120 Days of Sodom. He was killed in 1975 by homicide.

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What really sickened me is that the movie tried to make you sympathize with the guy because he was "traumatized" as a teenager. Then they tried to play it off with a "good pedophile" VS. "bad pedophile" thang.
Pedophilia and murder just aren't the kind of subjects I care to think about, LET ALONE be "immersed" in by watching a movie.

I guess my Homicide comment above seems a trite unnecessary, but did you have to call me a dummy for it? I will admit, I'm vaguely offended by it. Especially if my comment is considered deplorable while you defend a filmmaker who uses children in the depiction of unspeakable acts. Also, I was joking in the above comment. I guess I should have added a smiley to make the dark humor complete but I doubt I'd evoke as much amusement or chortling out of you as a Satan crapping scene. I guess I'd have to be a student of the arts to get that one.

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It's just that when the words child pornography are used by others to describe an artist work, that artist gets my immediate disrespect, but I'd never wish death on anyone. Unless they pissed me off (again, this is meant to be humorous in a morbid way).

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Very bizarre, like you were watching snuff films. Although I got some laughs out of Canterbury Tales.

BTW, does anyone have information about the early Japanese films where some of the actors were supposedly condemned prisoners and their final scene was literally their final scene? I've heard rumors about at least one film like this for years, but no facts. Is it an urban legend or true?

However, the disgusting scenes are intended to make a wider statement. In the case of 'Salo' it is that repressive political regimes dehumanise people to the point where such behaviour becomes first acceptable, and then the norm. So on these grounds I would at least defend the right of film-makers like Pasolini to produce and have shown such films, at least to mature adults.

There is a genuine difference between this and genuine pornography, which is to simply to present disgusting scenes so that sick-minded people can gain pleasure from them.

As an example of the latter I would cite the films of an individual who calls himself Bruce LaBruce. He has produced a number of films supposedly championing gay rights but which in reality do little more than celebrate and promote sexual violence. His latest, 'Skin Flick' (which I had the misfortune of being asked to show last year) contains two hours of scenes in which men are violently assaulted, restrained and then forcibly buggered, shot in a way which is clearly designed to give the impression that the people carrying out the assaults are the 'good guys'. Unlike 'Salo' I would have no hesitation in banning films like these and even prosecuting the people responsible for incitment.