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Creator of 'most disturbing movie ever' killed, set on fire and had testicles crushed

WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT: One of the most controversial films in history is set to be re-released in the UK, but behind the film is a director who suffered a truly brutal death

[Italian actor Pier Paolo Pasolini and Italian actor Giacomo Rizzo]

One of Italy's most famous films is being re-released in the UK(Image: Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA) / Artistes Associs / Artemis Film/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

The director behind what has been branded 'the most disturbing movie ever made' met his own sticky end weeks before the film was released - and in incredibly brutal circumstances.

Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini was a talented but controversial figure in his home country, and his final film certainly pushed the boundaries.

The movie - Sal, or The 120 Days of Sodom - was banned in a number of countries after its initial release at the end of 1975. It depicts four rich Italian men who take a group of teenagers before torturing them physically and sexually.

The film, described by the BFI as a controversial transposition of the Marquis de Sades novel to Benito Mussolinis fascist republic of 1944 was so graphic that, after an initial run in Italy, its licence was revoked and it was subsequently banned.

A number of countries followed suit, including the UK and Australia. At the time, censors described it as one of the most disturbing films ever, although the UK ban would be overturned in 2000.

[Pier Paolo Pasolini ]

Pier Paolo Pasolini was brutally killed in 1975(Image: Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA) /Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

But Pasolini, who both directed the film and wrote the script, was not around to see the furore surrounding his controversial work.

He was murdered just three weeks before the movie premiered at the 1975 Paris Film Festival, and in incredibly brutal fashion.

Pasolini's body was reportedly barely recognisable when it was discovered in Rome. His testicles had been crushed by a metal bar, he had been set on fire and he had been run over several times by his own car.

The mystery runs deeper, as there is still some confusion over who was responsible for the gruesome crime. Giuseppe "Pino" Pelosi, a 17-year-old sex worker, was caught driving Pasolini's car and confessed to the killing, saying he committed the murder after refusing to engage in intimate acts with the director.

He was sentenced to nine years in jail, but almost three decades after the murder, he recanted his confession. Pelosi, who died in 2017, said he made it due to threats to his family, and that the real perpetrators were three people "with a southern accent" who insulted Pasolini as a "dirty communist".

[Pasolini's funeral]

Pasolini's funeral(Image: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The mystery continued and in 2023, Pasolinis friends disputed Pelosis confession. They made a request to reopen the investigation into Pasolinis murder.

This came after an anti-mafia commission opened by Italys parliament that suggested there could have been some connection between the gang and in relation to extortion and stolen reels of film.

However, over 50 years after its original premiere in 1975, Pasolinis most famous work is set for a re-release in the UK when it is re-released by the BFI (British Film Institute).

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