Film ini dibagi menjadi empat bagian, atau "lingkaran", mengikuti struktur novel De Sade. Cerita dimulai ketika empat tokoh utama—Duke, The Bishop, The Magistrate, dan The President—yang mewakili empat pilar kekuasaan (aristokrasi, agama, hukum, dan politik) menculik 18 remaja (9 laki-laki, 9 perempuan) dan 4 pelacur tua.
Para pelacur bertugas menceritakan pengalaman cabul mereka, yang kemudian "dipraktikkan" oleh para tuan terhadap para korban.
Lingkaran Pertama: Mania Sederhana – Dimulai dengan kekerasan ringan: feses dimakan, penghinaan verbal, dan ritual seksual yang aneh.
Lingkaran Kedua: Mania Babi – Korban mulai dianiaya, dipukul, dan dipermalukan di depan umum.
Lingkaran Ketiga: Mania Darah – Kekerasan fisik meningkat. Lidah dipotong, kulit digerinda, dan gigi dicabut. i the 120 days of sodom sub indo
Lingkaran Keempat: Neraka yang Sebenarnya – Klimaks yang paling mengerikan. Penyiksaan brutal seperti pembakaran tangan, skapulasi, hingga kematian. Pasolini dengan berani menampilkan adegan-adegan ini tanpa musik dramatis—hanya suara-suara alam.
Ketika berbicara tentang film paling kontroversial sepanjang masa, nama Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) karya sutradara Pier Paolo Pasolini hampir selalu berada di puncak daftar. Bagi penonton Indonesia yang mencari pengalaman sinematik ekstrem, frasa pencarian "I the 120 Days of Sodom sub Indo" bukanlah sekadar keinginan untuk menonton film biasa. Ini adalah undangan untuk menyaksikan sebuah eksperimen sosial, alegori politik, dan sekaligus ujian ketahanan mental.
Film ini dilarang di berbagai negara selama beberapa dekade, dan hingga kini masih masuk dalam daftar "Video Nasty" yang paling mengerikan. Namun, mengapa film ini terus dicari? Artikel ini akan mengupas tuntas segala hal tentang The 120 Days of Sodom, mengapa subtitle Indonesia sangat penting untuk memahaminya, serta bagaimana film ini bertahan sebagai sebuah "karya seni" yang membenci kenyamanan penontonnya.
The circumstances of the book's creation are as dramatic as its content. Sade wrote the novel in tiny script on a roll of paper about 12 meters long while imprisoned in the Bastille. In 1789, just days before the storming of the prison, Sade was transferred to an asylum. He believed the manuscript—his life's work—was lost when the Bastille was ransacked. miraculously, the scroll survived and was rediscovered in the early 20th century. Film ini dibagi menjadi empat bagian, atau "lingkaran",
This context is vital: the novel was born from isolation, frustration, and a deep-seated rage against the institutions of power (the Church, the Monarchy, and the Law) that had confined the author. It is an explosion of the id, unrestricted by societal norms.
In 1975, Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini adapted the novel into the film Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma. Pasolini did not merely film the book; he transposed it to the Republic of Salò (1943–1945), the Fascist puppet state in Northern Italy during World War II.
From Sade to Fascism Pasolini used Sade’s structure to critique modern consumerism and totalitarianism. He argued that Fascism was the ultimate expression of power without morality. In the film, the four libertines represent the Fascist leadership, and the sexual violence becomes a metaphor for political domination.
The Three Circles Pasolini divided the film into three segments inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy (though inverted, as this is a hell without redemption): The "Sign of the Times" Pasolini famously included
The "Sign of the Times" Pasolini famously included a "Sign of the Times" subtitle at the end of the film. He saw the sadism described by Sade as a precursor to the alienation and dehumanization of the modern capitalist world. Where Sade's libertines were individuals seeking pleasure, Pasolini’s fascists were bureaucrats enforcing ideology.
The narrative structure is often compared to a mathematical theorem or a grotesque taxonomy. It details the activities of four wealthy libertines—a Duke, a Bishop, a Magistrate, and a Banker—who seal themselves in a remote castle in the Black Forest with a harem of victims (young men and women) and a cadre of experienced prostitutes who act as storytellers.
The novel is divided into four parts, corresponding to the 150 "passions" or sexual perversions described:
The story uses a framing device where the four storytellers (the prostitutes) recount tales to inspire the four libertines to act out the described acts on their victims. The novel is unfinished; Sade wrote detailed notes for the final three parts but only fully drafted the first. This lack of completion leaves the reader with a sense of escalating horror that never reaches a resolution.
The 120 Days of Sodom, or the School of Libertinage (Les 120 Journées de Sodome ou l'École du libertinage), written by the Marquis de Sade in 1785, stands as one of the most notorious and challenging texts in Western literature. Often misunderstood as merely a catalog of atrocities, the work is, in reality, a complex philosophical experiment that pushes the concepts of absolute freedom and moral relativism to their most terrifying logical conclusions.
