Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Italian filmmaker behind what has been branded 'the most disturbing movie ever made', met a brutal end just weeks before his final film was released. His body was found in Rome, barely recognisable: his testicles had been crushed by a metal bar, he had been set on fire, and he had been run over several times by his own car.
The film and its bans
Pasolini's final work, Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom, premiered at the 1975 Paris Film Festival. The film depicts four wealthy Italian men who take a group of teenagers and subject them to physical and sexual torture. It was banned in a number of countries after its initial release at the end of 1975.
The BFI describes the film as “a controversial transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s novel to Benito Mussolini’s fascist republic of 1944”. After an initial run in Italy, its licence was revoked and it was subsequently banned. Other countries, including the UK and Australia, followed suit. At the time, censors described it as “one of the most disturbing films ever”. The UK ban was overturned in 2000.
The murder and its aftermath
Pasolini, who both directed and wrote the script, was murdered just three weeks before the film premiered. Giuseppe "Pino" Pelosi, a 17-year-old sex worker, was caught driving Pasolini's car and confessed to the killing. He said he committed the murder after refusing to engage in intimate acts with the director. Pelosi was sentenced to nine years in jail.
Almost three decades later, Pelosi recanted his confession, claiming he made it due to threats to his family. He said the real perpetrators were three people "with a southern accent" who insulted Pasolini as a "dirty communist". Pelosi died in 2017.
Investigation and re-release
The mystery continued. In 2023, Pasolini's friends disputed Pelosi's confession and requested the investigation be reopened. This followed an anti-mafia commission opened by Italy's parliament, which suggested a possible connection between the gang and extortion and stolen reels of film.
Now, over 50 years after its original premiere, Salò is set for a re-release in the UK by the BFI.
