SPOILERS
The story is set in the Republic of Salò, the Fascist-occupied portion of Italy in 1944. Four wealthy men of power, the Duke (Duc de Blangis), the Bishop, the Magistrate (Curval), and the President (apparently Durcet), agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. They recruit four teenage boys (called guards) who would act as guards, and four young Solders (called studs or cockmongers or '****ers') who are chosen because of their big penises. They then kidnap eighteen young men and women (nine of each sex), and take them to a palace near Salò. Accompanying them are four middle-aged prostitutes, also collaborators, whose function will be to recount erotically arousing stories for the men of power, who, in turn, will sadistically exploit their victims.
The story depicts some of the many days at the palace, during which the four men devise increasingly abhorrent tortures and humiliations for their own pleasure. In the Anteinferno segment, the captures of some victims by the collaborators are shown, and, later, the four lords examining them. The Circle of Manias presents some of the stories in the first part of Sade's book, told by Signora Vaccari (Hélène Surgère). The Magistrate urges her to tell them every last detail in her stories. During breakfast, the daughters are seen entering the dining hall naked to serve food. One of the studs (Efisio Etzi) trips a daughter and rapes her in front of the crowd. The four men of power, the whores, the guards and the other studs laugh at her cries of pain. The President is intrigued and moons several slaves before making the stud have anal sex with him as well. Two victims (Sergio Fascetti and Renata Moar) are forced to marry. The ceremony is interrupted for a short time when the Duke fondles several victims and whores. When the ceremony ends, the bride and groom are forced to fondle each other in front of the men, who quickly stop them when they attempt to have sex with each other by raping them, during which the Magistrate engages with the Duke in three-way intercourse by worshiping his buttocks before penetrating it with his penis. Another day begins with the victims being forced to act like dogs. One of the victims, Lamberto refuses a little to eat like a dog. The Magistrate forces him to eat, then he whips him. Another one the Magistrate tortures is the daughter (Susanna Radaelli), whom he tricks into eating food containing nails. The next day, the Duke shares a passionate kiss with the boy Rino (Gaspare di Jenno) who seems to be attracted to him, and himself begins another kiss. One girl (Graziella Aniceto) expresses her sadness over the situation. She tells Eva (Olga Andreis) her friend that she does not think she can take much more.
In the Circle of ****, the passions escalate in intensity from mainly non-penetrative sex to copro****ia. As Signora Maggi (Elsa De Giorgi) tells her story, the President notices an erection forming through the pants of one of the studs seated next to him. He reaches over and begins to fondle the stud's penis through his pants. Another stud takes a female victim's hand and forcibly masturbates himself with it. The story continues, and Renata cries when she hears how Signora Maggi killed her mother. This proves to be a mistake as the Duke finds himself sexually excited at the sound of her cries and begins verbally abusing her. She begs him to stop, which is an even greater mistake as it enthralls him, making him more ruthless. The Duke orders the guards and studs to forcibly undress her. During this, she begs God for death, which puts her under punishment. The Duke punishes her by defecating in front of her and forcing her to eat his feces, making Rino rub his genitals as she does so. The situation is so much that it causes the President to exit to masturbate. Later, the other victims are presented a giant meal of human feces. Graziella again tells her friend that she does not think she can take much more. During a search for which victim has the most beautiful buttocks, Franco is picked, triggered him but out of ammunition, then he is promised death in the future.
The Circle of Blood starts with a black mass-like wedding between the studs and the men of power. The men angrily order the children to laugh, but they are too grief-stricken to do so. The Pianist (Sonia Saviange) and Signora Vaccari tell jokes to make the victims laugh. The wedding ceremony ensues with each men of power exchanging rings with the studs. After the wedding, the Bishop is sodomized by his stud. After, the stud refers to his huge penis as the Bishop's "friend" and will be available for his enjoyment in the future. The Bishop (Giorgio Cataldi) then leaves to examine the captives in their rooms, where they start systematically betraying each other: Claudio reveals that Graziella is hiding a photograph, Graziella reveals that Eva and Antiniska are having a secret sexual affair, and finally, a collaborator (Ezio Manni) and the black servant (Ines Pellegrini) are shot down after being found having sex. The victim Umberto Chessari is appointed to replace Ezio. Toward the end, the remaining victims are called out for who will be punish. Graziella is spared due to her betrayal of Eva (whose name is not called and who is absent in this scene), and Rino is spared due to his submissive relationship with the Duke. Those who are called are given a blue ribbon and are sentenced to a painful death. The victims huddle together and cry, pray and one in particular begins to react from the horrible meals he's been fed. They are then murdered through methods like branding, hanging, scalping, and having their tongues and eyes cut out, as each libertine takes his turn to watch as voyeur. The soldiers shake hands and bid farewell, and the Pianist commits suicide due to her grief.
The film's final shot is of two young soldiers, who had witnessed and collaborated in all of the prior atrocities, dancing simply together.
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