Pasolini\'s SALO Documentaries

In 1943, Nazi Germany establishes the puppet state of the Italian Social Republic in the territories of Northern Italy which are under German military occupation. In 1944, four wealthy men of power in the puppet state (the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate, and the President) agree to marry each other's daughters in an arranged marriage, mostly for political reasons. In the mansion chosen for the ritual, the daughters are instructed to remain naked at all times. The four power players recruit four teenage boys (Bruno, Fabrizio, Claudio and Ezio) as guards and collaborators, and four young men (Blackshirt soldiers) are recruited as "studs". The "studs" are chosen because of their large penises and good looks. The teenage guards and the fascist secret police (OVRA) are sent out to round up young victims for the rituals of their masters. Nine teenage boys and nine teenage girls are picked and brought to a palace near Marzabotto, but one of the boys is immediately killed in failed attempt to escape. Four middle-aged prostitutes have been hired to orchestrate debauched interludes for the men, who sadistically exploit their victims. As days pass, the four men of power devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. When Liana, the Duke's elder daughter, is raped in full view of the mansion's other residents, most of the spectators laugh at her cries of pain. The guard Ezio is secretly distressed by the spectacle, and he has doubts about the nature of his new job. He is also hiding something else from his employers and his co-workers: Ezio pretends to be a loyal fascist, but he is actually a communist.