Salò or 120 Days of Sodom
Of course it’s entirely different, but both films had the capability of making me want to stop watching and never go back again. It’s probably the most impressing film I have seen in a long time, and I don’t know if I can recommend it or not. In terms of human cruelty, this film is worse than I imagine Lilja 4-ever could ever be. Ultimately we just really don’t see that much cruelty, and this film itself is no exception. The worst scenes (the ones in which the characters are tortured to death) are only seen through the lenses of opera glasses so that you can’t actually see blood or torture.
The hour after seeing about half of the film and skipping through the rest, I have ranted on how the film made an impression on him. It made me wonder why we are so cruel and weak at the same time. I feel ashamed to be human; and that I was no better than them after all – I am one of the soldiers dancing at the end of the film. Ughh. I also watched the film shortly before going to sleep, and really, even though the film’s esthetics are impressive, I could not help but want to puke when the play with excrements was starting and by the end, I felt nauseating… That was how bad it is. You don’t really want to see them put male genitals on fire, not really.
I admire the male character who ran out of the car at the very beginning. He was shot immediately and definitely had the most dignified death out of all of them – and the most painless too.
So, all in all, this film was an experience and I am glad to have stumbled upon it, but I think I am still too much in shock to say anything substantial about it. I did think that it was a wonderful portrait of humanity (and its perverseness) though.