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‘You have to be ready to see it’: Abel Ferrara and Catherine Breillat on why Pasolini’s Salò is a gift that keeps giving
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s notorious film is now 50 years old, and its cavalcade of shocking cruelty and violence still leaves a stark impact on its viewers. Film-makers explain why Pasolini ‘was a saint to us’Abel Ferrara was there at the beginning. In his new memoir, Scene, the cult director describes his experience at the American premiere of Salò, the hugely controversial final film from Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini. At the beginning of the film – at which Ferrara and company arrived with wine and cheese, given its length – there were 15 people in the audience. Once the credits rolled, there were eight. “I was standing with like six people,” Ferrara says now. “And you know, two or three of those people I still see.”When it comes to Salò, it seems that you never forget your first time. The film, which has reached its 50th anniversary in 2025, is known for its seemingly endless cavalcade of cruelty and violence, leaves a stark impact on those who come across it. “We had high ex...
Politics
