Gazing Into the Abyss

Movies: Martyrs, Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom

Preface:

What up, what up, what up, y'all! Jenny is coming in here with some EXTREMELY DARK SHIT. The movies I will be discussing in this review are really fucked up and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM unless you're the kind of person who is already inclined to watch such horror and filth. Further, I want to assure people that I AM OK. Hopefully, at this point, everyone who reads this blog and/or knows me in real life knows that I like horror/spooky/dark/violent/transgressive shit and that this isn't some kind of call for help. I mean, I'm not ok in the way that everyone is not ok right now, but I'm not, like, extra not ok. Just the regular amount that is appropriate for *gestures broadly* all this. So please, enjoy this review about movies that most people don't want to watch. I watched them for you. You're welcome!

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Back in October, I wrote a blog post titled "Why Horror?" which explains why I love horror movies. It basically all comes down to the desire to face the dark side of life in a safe environment--to explore those crevices many others would just as soon ignore. Well, I'm back at it again with two movies that are technically classified as horror, but are far more layered than than your typical slasher film. These movies are about the very depths of human evil and suffering. They ask their viewers to take a leap of faith into the abyss of the human psyche.

My therapist would be horrified to know that I decided to watch Pascal Laugier's Martyrs on the evening that Roe vs. Wade was overturned, and to rewatch Pier Paolo Passolini's Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom the following day. She would probably worry that on a day where I felt so much despair, what could watching such films be other than an act of mental self-harm? Well, I don't see it that way. I see this as the ideal time to really dig into two films that are utterly, terribly nihilistic. In fact, I was sitting at home wondering what the fuck to do with myself on the evening that reproductive rights were dealt a deadly blow and the idea of watching a light-hearted film felt perverse. But the thought of watching something that doesn't look away from human cruelty felt not just appropriate, but oddly comforting.

There are just times where I need what I'm watching, listening to, or reading to match what I'm feeling inside. It's not about feeling better, it's about honoring my emotions. And the only thing to do on that terrible evening was to honor what I felt.

And so, after years of preparing for it, I put on Martyrs, a new French extremity film that came out during the torture porn wave of the aughts and decided to be deadly serious about it. Martyrs isn't fucking around. This film does not use violence to entertain. If anything, Laugier is directly responding to the Saw movies, the Hostel movies, and other movies of that ilk by saying "You want to see torture? I'll show you what torture really looks like." 

The films opens with a young girl running away from her captors. The girl's name is Lucie and we find out that although she has not been sexually assaulted, she has been starved and beaten. She is placed in an orphanage and becomes friends with Anna, who serves as her protector.

Fifteen years later, Lucie shows up at the home of the seemingly normal Belfond family and proceeds to murder the entire family, teenage children included. Lucie believes that the parents were her captors and tormentors. She calls Anna, who is horrified at what Lucie has done. Lucie was motivated to kill the family not for revenge, but because she is literally haunted by a naked, bloody woman who attacks her on a regular basis. We surmise that this ghastly figure represents a girl Lucie left behind when she escaped. When the woman again shows up to torment Lucie (Anna only sees Lucie harming herself), Lucie realizes that killing the family will not relieve her of her guilt, and she kills herself.

Anna then discovers a secret passageway in the Belfond home. A naked, horribly mutilated woman is chained in an underground chamber. It turns out that the Belfonds were part of a cult that captures young women, tortures them into complete submission, and tries to get them as close to death as possible without actually killing them because they believe that such women will become "martyrs" who will be able to see what lies beyond this life and communicate what they see to the cult. Anna learns all this after some thugs show up at the Belfond home and capture her. She is to become their next martyr.

For about 20 minutes of the movie, we see Anna chained, beaten, force-fed, and beaten some more. There is no creativity in these torments. There is nothing personal about it. It's just what has to be done to get Anna into a state near death. And once she is at that state, she is flayed alive. Now, close to death, she can see beyond this world. But when she whispers what she sees to the cult leader, Mademoiselle, the leader's response is to tell the followers to "keep doubting" before she puts a gun in her mouth and pulls the trigger. Fin. We never know what Anna saw and why Mademoiselle decided not to relay that information to her followers and instead immediately take her own life. The point of the movie, it seems, is that there is no point. Much like cruelty...the cruelty is the point.

Now, I can see why people would not exactly be lining up around the corner to watch a movie that includes so much intense violence against young women with no clear "reason". People are willing to watch funny violent movies (Kill Bill) and they're willing to watch serious violent films that have a clear purpose (Schindler's List), but they're not so eager to watch an absolutely humorless film that doesn't have the comforting familiarity of a war film or a film about historical atrocities which can be slotted into our pre-existing beliefs about the world and the heroes and villains that live within it. Such movies allow us to acknowledge that evil exists, but still feel that things will turn towards rightness in the end. 

But what if things aren't right? What if Martyrs asks us to sit with the feeling that many of us shove down during hard times, using Mr. Rogers quotes and pithy sayings posted on social media with floral backgrounds. The feeling that creeps up and whispers "things are not ok." What we see in Martyrs actually does happen in real life. Not the whole "cult trying to discover what happens after we die" aspect, but the simple and systematic torture of innocents. That shit happens all the time. And it's not ok. People who commit such acts often have families of their own, whom they treat very well. Evil is banal. And it's not ok. When people escape abusive and violent situations, like Lucie does, they are often haunted by what happened and often continue to suffer, especially in a world that can be so uncaring. And it's not ok.

But you know what is ok, at least in small doses? Sitting with the feeling that it's not ok. You can't sit with it forever, and trust me when I say that I'll be watching some palate cleansers soon. And I'm not recommending that people watch this film specifically--not by a long shot. I'm only asking that people understand why films like Martyrs exist and that art which explores the darker aspects of humanity is as valid and as important as art that tries to express a more hopeful message. I firmly believe that we must be able to look at, talk about, and think about these darker truths if we want to have a fair shot at doing anything about them. Something that cannot be thought about can also not be defeated. 

The other film I watched, or rather re-watched since I saw it over 10 years ago, is Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Passolini's final film, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. This is one of the most infamous movies of all time. Any time you see a list of "the most disturbing movies of all time", Salo will be on it. And for good reason. The film is based on a novel by the Marquis de Sade. In the novel, four French libertines capture 18 teenagers and whisk them away to a secluded villa where they torture and rape them for 120 days. FUN! It's a great beach read, guys, trust me. 

The movie takes the same basic idea and plops it in fascist Italy near the end of WWII. Four men--the Duke, the Bishop, the President, and the Magistrate--who are proudly fascist and have absolute power decide to engage in a debauched ritual that involves them marrying each others daughters, kidnapping 18 teenagers, and whisking them away to a secluded villa where...well, you get the idea. 

Salo is totally outrageous. It actually strikes me as funny at times because it is so over the top in its depravity, especially given that it was made in the mid-70s. I mean, look, this movie has shit-eating in it. A LOT of shit-eating. Don't worry--the shit was actually chocolate mixed with marmalade! But it's very hard not to gag while watching a bunch of people literally have a ritualistic meal made of shit.

So you might be wondering "what in the actual fuck??" right now. Well, let me tell you: Salo is a masterpiece. It is one of the greatest movies about fascism ever made. Passolini was murdered very soon after the release of this film and though it's never been proven, it is possible that he was killed because he made this film, which mocks and criticizes Italian fascists--some of whom were alive and living in Italy when Salo was released. So you can imagine how a fascist would react to a depiction of fascists raping children and eating a bunch of shit, right? Salo is both political art and a bold statement that shows what happens when authoritarianism is taken to its logical extreme.

Salo is actually the perfect film to watch in the United States right now. I believe that conservative politicians are fascists. I think there is enough evidence to see how the GOP is using the playbook of 1930s fascism to bring about a wave of white supremacy and domination of women, queer people, Black and brown people, and poor people (oh, by the way, did you know that the Nazis actually took inspiration from the good ol' US of A about how to treat people they considered subhuman? So, really, it's all just coming back around again). I mean, Mitch McConnell and Clarence Thomas might not being eating shit alongside 18 kidnapped underage teens quite yet, but...

Salo is a movie about how unlimited power is never a good thing. We all know that even good people often change for the worse when given power. Just imagine what people already inclined towards sadism and cruelty can do when given power over vulnerable people. And it's those very people--people who find it easy to be cruel or dismissive--who end up with power since they're willing to step on people to get to the top. This is something that I believe transcends gender, race, religion, etc...I truly, truly believe that having unchecked power over other people makes monsters of us all. It doesn't matter if you're white, Black, a man, a woman, queer, straight, whatever...if you're given control over someone else...there is a point at which you will abuse that power. 

Now, clearly, sometimes people gotta have a certain amount of control over other people--for example, parents need to set rules and boundaries for their kids. In fact, kids who grow up without boundaries often suffer because of that. So there is a gray area here. I'm talking about unchecked power. And what is the SCOTUS ruling on Roe v. Wade? It's unchecked power used to harm others. The lie that this ruling will "protect babies" has been swallowed, like so much shit, by people who desperately want to believe that. The masses have been thoroughly propagandized to, demoralized, and brainwashed into believing that either these decisions are good ones or that there is nothing we can do anyway. They want us to give up. 

What happens at the end of Salo? Well, that just might be the most controversial aspect of the entire movie: the bad guys get away with it. They murder most of the children and then dance around happily and then the movie ends. Much like Martyrs, there is no punishment awaiting the torturers. There are only more people to capture, dominate, rape, and murder. 

So what is the point, you may ask? Why watch these films that show the nadir of humanity, the extremity of violence, the shit-covered face of absolute power? Because...you have to understand that this is real, and that there may not be a god who can save us. There may not be a hell for the bad guys to go to. It's on us. Maybe there is a god, maybe not. But one thing we can be sure of: we exist. So you can have your little thoughts and prayers, and you can make jokes on social media about women rising up like Xena. But if you don't take action, it really is all for nothing. And you might say "but what action can I, one person, take that will make a difference?" Well, there is no single action one person can take to make a difference, but you are still morally obligated to act anyway. Because when we all take action, we can change things...even if they change slowly and even if they only change for some people. 

I'm going to end this review with a super cliched parable. A bunch of starfish had washed up on the beach one day. They were drying out and would surely die if no one threw them back into the sea. A little boy was walking up and down the beach, throwing starfish back into the sea. An older man came up to him and said "what are you doing? Look at all these starfish. You can't possibly save them all. You can't make a difference." The boy picked up another starfish, threw it back into the sea, and said "it made a difference to that one."

We're all we have in this fucked up world. Are you going to throw a starfish back into the sea or aren't you?

Martyrs: A

Salo: A