Welcome to the first installment of Subversive Theatre, a column that will explore the most censored, reviled, or just plain revolutionary films ever made. Not all the films will necessarily be works by underground filmmakers, however, as the two movies being reviewed in this piece show.

The Devils was filmed by famed director Ken Russell, stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, with distribution by Warner Bros. Hardly an indie film, but that hasn’t kept it from being heavily censored, banned and nearly forgotten. Warner Bros, for instance, has long been promising to release an uncut version on DVD, but still hasn’t. This is in contrast to the treatment Salo has received, having recently been released in a deluxe two-disc set.

The discrepancy likely has to do with subject matter. The Devils is a damning indictment against Christianity whereas Salo condemns, of all things, Italian fascism. Not that Salo hasn’t faced plenty of censorship since it was first released in 1976: it has been banned in numerous countries, and its director, Pier Paolo Pasolini, was murdered (whether because of the film or not is a matter of debate).

It would be a shame if Salo was the reason for Pasolini’s death because, while it’s a fairly good film, it’s not really worth killing anyone over. [Read more]

We keep this up, and people are gonna think that us C-F folk hate conservatives.

Which, uh… anyway…

On the heels of every other fuckup Republican VP pick Sarah Palin has on her so far there’s a much lesser known scandal lurking in the shadows. One which, I think, says more about her character then most other stories out there. Many talk about her daughter, but you can’t necessarily hold that against Palin. This, on the other hand…

Apparently, during her time as mayor of Wasilla, Palin went about poking at the idea of getting books banned, even going as far as firing a librarian and then reversing the action when residents of the town became outraged. More, after I get on my fireman uniform.

[Read more]