Pier Paolo Pasolini

Teorema (1968)

[6] Italian writer/artist/political activist Pier Paolo Pasolini (Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom) paints a bleak portrait of middle-class complacency in Teorema, the story of a bourgeoise household seduced and forever changed by a mysterious stranger played by Terence Stamp (Billy Budd, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert). The entire family — father, mother, son, daughter, and even the maid — experience …

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

[2] During World War II, four fascist leaders round up a group of adolescent boys and girls to torture for one-hundred-twenty days. Just knowing what Salò is about kept me from watching it for decades. But now that I’ve finally seen it, I can safely say I’ll never want to see it again — not because it’s too graphic or upsetting, but because it’s point …