Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Malcolm McDowell, John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole,
Helen Mirren, Teresa Ann Savoy, Giancarlo Badessi,
Guido Mannari, Adriana Asti
Written by Gore Vidal
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £24.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 156 minutes
Directed by Tinto Brass & Bob Guccione
The controveresial, much-derided "classic" finally makes its way to DVD uncut. And for me it's a fascinating experience, seeing it for the first time (the film is still banned in my native Australia). And what I found most fascinating is that despite all the infamous hardcore porn scenes, it's actually quite a boring film.
The story behind Caligula is actually more interesting than the film itself. It was financed (and controlled) by Penthouse Magazine publisher Bob Guccione, who wanted to make an opulant, multi-million-dollar historical "porn epic". He enlisted renowned erotic filmmaker Tinto Brass to direct, and with a script by the great Gore Vidal, Guccione also managed to rope in a sterling cast of British thesps — McDowell in the title role, O'Toole, Gielgud and Mirren — who clearly didn't have a clue as to what the finished product would be. The "plot" as such basically deals with the rise and fall of the Roman emperor Caligula, but that's secondary to the opulence and debauchery on display here — everything from anal fisting, explicit lesbian trysts and ritual beheadings to full-on orgies and blowjobs. It's well known that the more explicit imagery was shot by Guccione, using a collection of his braver Penthouse Pets, after Brass had finished principal photography. Stories have emerged over the years that McDowell is ashamed of the film, but as he says in his marvellous commentary, that's not the case — he was just pissed off with the insertion of all the porn.
As an epic, Caligula is truly grand in scale. The set design is magnificent, the costumes are lavish, the production values are as high as you would expect on a film of this kind. Performances, too, are great — especially McDowell, who has brings a gleeful delight to playing madmen. What lets it down is a messy script, misguided direction and sloppy editing. There was, potentially, a good film in there somwhere; sadly, it didn't manage to make its way onto the screen. The Roman Empire is a fascinating period, and has been the subject of countless films. And Caligula is certainly the closest anyone has come to showing the true depravity of the age on film. But it really is a struggle to watch — even with the sex scenes intact, and a great performance from its lead, it's just dull, uninvolving and hard to follow. Despite that, its certainly worth watching, simply for the sake of curiosity. And a big thumbs up to the BBFC for deciding to allow the film to finally be released uncut. I guess what helped the boaqrd to make its decision is the fact that with all manner of depravity available on the internet, the sex scenes in Caligula are incrediby tame by comparison.
EXTRAS ***** This is where this 4-disc compilation shows its true worth. First there is the complete, full-length, uncut and uncensored version of the film, which runs for 2 hours and 36 minutes. The very toned down Theatrical Version (disc 2) runs just 1 hour and 42 minutes, and also includes a collection of trailers, bonus footage and behind-the-scenes footage. Disc 3 is the Alternative Version, with a runtime of 2 hours and 33 minutes — plus deleted and alternate scenes, and separate audio commentaries with McDowell (hilarious stuff, well worth a listen), Mirren and Ernest Volkman, who was Penthouse's on-set writer and reporter. There is also an Extras disc, which consists of: a making-of documentary; a second making-of featurette; a featurette called My Roman Holiday with John Steiner; Caligula's Pet: A Conversation with Lori Wagner; Tinto Brass: The Orgy Of Power; stills galleries. Additional DVD-ROM content includes press kit notes, cast and crew biographies, the script and the novelisation.