I have received many comments asking me, "Why Salo, isnt this just filth? How could it be worth the money it gets on ebay in any form? Shouldnt it be abducted along with Pasolini's corpse for making this film?"
Here's my take. As a film critic I would say that Salo is the consummate Anti-Facist/Nazi picture ever filmed. Wheras "classics" such as Schindler's List focus on the aspect of hope in the face of murder and tyranny, Salo presents it dispassionately and perhaps even accusatorilly for the audience for even watching the film, as can be seen by the famous reverse-binocular scene at the end of the film. Pasolini wants us to understand how mankind went terribly and brutally wrong with facism and tells us if we remain complacent to its horrors we may be doomed to repeat them. For this reason Salo is classic cinema, but also presents a harrowing glimpse into a very real hell-on-earth which existed in similar forms in both Germany and Italy during the late 30s and 40s. Once viewed by the dicerning critic it is never forgotten.
For thiese reasons, in my opinion, Salo was immortalized by Criterion and by DVD collectors all around the world.
The Story: On Monday, June 11, 2001, word broke that a local Chicago movie chain had in store 400 sealed copies of Salo Criterion Collection at $100 each, a rather interesting file considering they have been averaging $400 on ebay now for the past year and a half.
Orders came in like wildfires, prompting cash registers at this chain to go crazy with joy. A day later, as word would have it, all of these orders would be promptly canceled. To protect someone? Criterion? A mysterious boss behind it all? We may never know
From Tuesday to Friday of that week, dvd fanatics from around the world began to learn a few different stories, two from Criterion (allegedly), and a few more spin offs
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Rumor #2- This is a bootleg, from who knows where (SCULLY!!)
If the Facets Salo is a Real Criterion DVD, then it is Super Rare, maybe less than 40 copies on the market....
If the Facets Salo is a Bootleg Criterion DVD- It Still has the Criterion transfer and can not be found anywhere else
$150 at least in value ( to save Salo fan from bad BFI transfer and a region free player)