Cine Outsider: Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom on Blu-ray and DVD from the BFI in September

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Salò or 120 Days of Sodom on blu-ray and DVD from the BFI in September

3 July 2008

Pier Paolo Pasolini's final and most controversial film, Salò or the 120 Days of Sodomhas been banned, censored and reviled the world over since its first release in 1975. It did not receive UK certification until late 2000, when it was passed uncut. The film's content and imagery is extreme and it retains the power to shock, repel and distress. A brutal allegory based on the novel 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade, the film is a cinematic milestone – culturally significant, politically vital and visually stunning.

recently announced for a Criterion release in August in the US, the film is to be released here in September by the BFI both as a double disc DVD and – in a first for the BFI – a blu-ray high definition version, but also containing the DVD of special features you'll find in the DVD release.

Disc 1 will feature:

Fully complete & uncut, telecined from original Italian restoration negatives;
DVD: 1.85:1 (16:9 Enhanced) / PAL DVD9 / DD mono (320 kbps);
BD: 1.85:1 (1080p, 24fps) / BD25 / PCM mono;
Original Italian language version (with optional English subtitles);
Original English language version (with optional HoH subtitles);
Original Italian trailer (with optional English subtitles);
Coil – Ostia (the Death of Pasolini) The original 1987 track from Coil's celebrated second album, Horse Rotorvator, with a newly created video accompaniment, shot especially for this release, by Peter Christopherson.

Disc 2, which will be included in both releases:

On set footage and interviews (1974, 25m) – newly created documentary using full colour footage shot in 1974 by acclaimed film journalist and Pasolini expert Gideon Bachmann;
Whoever Says the Truth Shall Die (1981, 58m) Philo Bregstein's classic documentary on the life and death of Pier Paolo Pasolini;
Fade to Black (2001, 25m) – documentary with Mark Kermode exploring the ongoing relevance and power of Pasolini's controversial masterpiece, with Bernardo Bertolucci and other leading directors;
Ostia (1991, 25m, with optional director commentary track) – Julian Cole's short film about the last days of Pasolini, starring Derek Jarman.

Both releases will also include a fully illustrated booklet with the following inclusions:

Newly commissioned essay by Sam Rohdie (Italian film scholar and author on Pasolini);
Sight & Sound article by Gideon Bachmann incorporating his on-set diary;
1979 review of the film by Gilbert Adair;
James Ferman letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions;
Cast and credits for the film;
Pasolini biography by Italian film specialist Geoffrey Nowell-Smith;
Photographs of Pasolini at work on set.

Salò or The 120 days of Sodom will be released on UK DVD and blu-ray by the BFI on 22nd September 2008 at the RRP of £22.99 for the double-disc DVD and £24.99 for the blu-ray disc.