Pier Paolo Pasolini’s controversial Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom on 4K UHD from the BFI in October
Banned, censored and reviled the world over since its release, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s final and most controversial masterpiece, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma, 1975), is presented here in a new 4K restoration. The content and imagery of Salò is extreme: it retains the power to shock, repel and distress. But it remains a cinematic milestone: culturally significant, politically vital and visually stunning.
Based on a novel by the Marquis de Sade – and taking as its setting the miniature fascist republic which Mussolini established in Italy – this is a film about power, corruption, and the degradation of the human body. It is a devastating, angry cry from one of the most controversial auteurs in cinema history.
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom will be released on 4K UHD by the BFI on 26 October 2026 at the RRP of £29.99, but can be pre-ordered from the BFI shop for £24.99.
BFI 4K UHD FEATURES:
- Newly restored in 4K
- Original Italian language, and alternative English language versions
- Audio commentary by film critic Kat Ellinger
- Audio commentary by film historians Troy Howarth and Eugenio Ercolani
- Pier Paolo Pasolini: The Interview Under the Tree (1975, 6 mins) an interview with the director conducted by Gideon Bachmann
- ‘OSTIA (The Death of Pasolini)’ Coil’s 1986 track with video accompaniment from 2008
- Open Your Eyes! (2008, 21 mins): Pasolini and his actors at work on the set of Salò
- Walking with Pasolini (2008, 22 mins): documentary featuing Neil Bartlett and Noam Chomsky
- Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die (1981, 61 mins): classic documentary on the life and death of Pasolini
- Salò: Fade to Black (2001, 24 mins): documentary exploring Pasolini’s Salò
- Ostia (1987, 27 mins): features Derek Jarman, and also includes optional audio commentary by Julian Cole
- The End of Salò (2008, 41 mins): documentary looking at the film’s production
- Enfants de Salò (2009, 19 mins): French filmmakers including Gaspar Noé deconstruct Salò
- Original Italian trailer
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by Zoë Rose Smith and archival writing by Sam Rohdie, Peter Christopherson, and on Ostia by Orianne Basta
BOOKLET CONTENTS:
- Article on the making of Lady in the Fog by author and Hammer expert Wayne Kinsey.
- New article by Andrew Pixley on the original radio adventures of Philip Odell.
- New article by Sarah Morgan, who examines the life and career of cultural icon Cesar Romero.
- New article by Jo Botting, who profiles Renée Glynne, a mainstay of British film for seven decades.
- Article by Wayne Kinsey, who interviews Renée Glynne about her work at Hammer.
- New article by Mike Peros, who investigates Cesar Romero’s excursions into the cinematic underworld.
- New article by Gavin Collinson, who sleuths out Katie Johnson’s seldom-examined life and career.
- New article by Priscilla Page, who examines Lady in the Fog’s synthesis of both British and American styles.