Rating of
2.5/4
To the Extreme
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/19/12
It's hard to review such a divisive film - I mean, when your basing your film off the writing of the Marquis de Sade, and making an anti-fascist statement - you're not going to get rainbows and butterflies, but instead inhumane depravity such as the material proscribes. This movie doesn't push boundaries, it blows them apart with C4, then grinds the remains through a woodchipper, throws that in vat of acid and sacrifices the whole thing to the world's most active volcano.
A group of 18 teens are led to a secluded villa presided over by four men and four women - who essentially do whatever they want with these charges. This a film where forced sodomy is just an everyday occurrence - where excrement is served as a meal, where praying or even acknowledging God is punishable by death - but only after you've been violated in the worst possible ways. I can't recommend this film as the entire film is wholly unpleasant.
That being said, it must have taken a lot of courage to put together this film and Pier Paolo Pasolini, who died shortly after the film was released, left this, easily one of the most controversial movies ever made, as his legacy. If you dare to watch this - no light undertaking, I assure you - if will leave an indelible mark. Just make sure you're prepared.
