: Governed by strict, perverse laws read by the Duke, the libertines force the captives to follow rituals that negate all social conventions, replacing them with acts of absolute depravity.
: The film concludes with the ritualistic murder and mutilation of the victims, while the libertines watch through binoculars from the villa, emphasizing their complete detachment from the human suffering they have caused. Themes and Metaphors : Governed by strict, perverse laws read by
Pasolini intended the film to be an "anarchy of power," using extreme acts as a metaphor for the relationship between a totalitarian state and its subjects. : The victims are brought to a remote,
: The victims are brought to a remote, palatial villa where they are subjected to 120 days of systematic physical, mental, and sexual torture. The Narrative Arc The story of the 1975
: Four wealthy and corrupt Italian libertines—The Duke, The Bishop, The Magistrate, and The President—kidnap eighteen teenage boys and girls.
The narrative is structured after Dante’s Divine Comedy , moving through the Ante-Inferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Excrement, and the Circle of Blood. The Narrative Arc
The story of the 1975 film is one of the most harrowing and controversial in cinema history. Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini , it transposes the Marquis de Sade’s 18th-century novel to the final days of World War II in the fascist-occupied Republic of Salò, Italy.