Caligula received its famed notoriety not only from the countless film critics who had ferociously panned it as "worthless trash," but also from its widely advertised hardcore and explicit lewd content that could best be described as "depraved." Add in the scandalous behind-the-scenes production struggles, the uncompromising demands of Guccione and the film's very surprising cast of well-respected, classically-trained actors and what you get is an odd amalgam of class, infused within scenes of sadistic and trashy spectacle.
When one thinks of the typical Hollywood swords-and-sandals epic, one would first picture the massive and elaborate sets and then the elegance and civility of the many characters found in such films as Cleopatra or The Robe. Back in the '70s, never would one imagine seeing the inherently violent and gritty side of Rome and the sexually explicit scenes of unbridled debauchery as depicted in Caligula. To top it all off, in the midst of such insolence and decadence on screen, we have award-winning actors like Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole and John Gielgud plying their ware alongside Guccione's harem of sexy Penthouse Pets. Quite unimaginable! In fact, as McDowell revealed in his audio commentary, the only reason that he first got involved with Caligula was because of Gore Vidal's immense reputation as a writer.
In post-production, Caligula ran into plenty of problems and had seen repeated edits and re-edits even before it was released. Unhappy with director Tinto Brass' (who had also directed the equally explicit film Salon Kitty) original vision of the film, Guccione fired Brass and brought in other film editors like Giancarlo Lui, Russell Lloyd and Nino Baragli to edit multiple versions of the film, ultimately butchering the film's original Vidal screenplay beyond comprehension or repair. Guccione even went as far as to re-shoot some graphic porn material and spliced that into the final version. These added scenes include a girl-on-girl lesbian tryst that was edited in between the m¿nage trois scene involving McDowell, Mirren and Teresa Ann Savoy and some modern looking—and totally out of place—hardcore material that was added to the infamous bordello scene towards the end of the film.
As one would come to expect, this film centers on the short reign of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or better known as Caligula (Malcolm McDowell), the third emperor of Rome, who ruled from 37 AD until 41 AD. Caligula came to power following the death of his grandfather, Emperor Tiberius (Peter O'Toole), murdered jointly by Caligula and his trusted ally, the Praetorian Prefect, Macro (Guido Mannari). Soon after becoming emperor, Caligula slowly descends into madness, as he continues his grandfather's debauched ways and angering the Senate with unpopular declarations that actually benefit the people of Rome. Except for his sister, Drusilla, (Teresa Ann Savoy) —with whom he has an incestuous relationship—Caligula also got rid of those whom he perceived as his closest rivals, like his friend Macro and his cousin Gemellus (Bruno Brive). Caligula later married Caesonia (Helen Mirren), with whom he had a daughter.
Even without Guccione's late hardcore porn additions to the film, Caligula, in Tinto Brass' vision, was already a very graphic and indefensible depiction of decadent life in ancient Roman times. Truly, Caligula is certainly not for the faint-hearted with its very explicit portrayal of all forms of fornication, masturbation, rape, incest, decapitation, disembowelment, urination and, of course, nudity. Ah, yes… the nudity. Is there such a thing as extreme nudity? If there is, then one would find it here. Except for a few of the film's main stars, almost everyone else in the movie is either nude or partially nude most of the time. Watching the film now, who would have expected recent Oscar winner Mirren to be such a free-spirited exhibitionist?
Apart from all the controversial material that the film is famous for, there is actually a compelling story within Caligula. After all the butchering by Guccione and his co-conspirators, the film may seem like a complete mess. However, look closer and one can see the brilliance of how Brass and McDowell portrayed the title character, bringing out some facets of this child-like man that one might not have expected to find. It is inherently easy to just play a man on the brink of insanity, but McDowell's Caligula is played more like an anarchist, challenging every norm in the governing of Rome and rightfully instilling fear within his inner circle. But, mad he certainly is, as evidenced by his order of having all his senators' wives' become prostitutes in his imperial bordello — an order that proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Both O'Toole's and Gielgud's characters only lasted through the first half hour of the film, but their mere presence alone brought some semblance of sanity to the utter lunacy that is Caligula.
Score: 7 out of 10
Video and Presentation
Two versions of Caligula can be found on this three-disc set and both versions feature video presentations that can best be described as a mixed bag. It is a known fact that Guccione went back to re-shoot some new scenes that were added to the original a couple years after principal photography had ended. Mating the new scenes with the original ones had consequences, as the film stocks are different, resulting in vastly different visual quality from one particular scene to another. The photographer's rampant use of the camera zoom effect also lowers the level of detail in a lot of scenes. Another issue plaguing the print is the high level of softness and film grain that can be seen throughout the feature, as if it is filtered through another lens. Colors are also mostly dull and muted due to the lack of definition in the transfer. Although the video transfer here is touted to be a new high-definition transfer, there are too many instances of dirt on the print to suggest that no effort was put into cleaning them up. Both versions of the film are presented in anamorphic format in their original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
Score: 5 out of 10
Languages and Audio
Both the unrated, uncensored theatrical release and the alternate pre-release version feature Dolby Digital 5.0 as an audio option. The unrated version also provides another option in Dolby Digital Mono. The 5.0 option is of course the better choice here but due to the film's age, there is very little that it can do to improve upon the overall aural experience. The dialogue is clear and the sound field is front-heavy, with very few surround effects. Also, without the .1 LFE, there is hardly any life in the orchestral music, making for a very thin-sounding experience.
Score: 5 out of 10
Packaging and Extras
Two versions of Caligula are included on this three-disc Imperial Edition DVD set. The main feature on this set is the 156-minute unrated and uncensored theatrical release, which can be found on Disc One. On the second disc, the alternate pre-release version runs just approximately three minutes shorter and it lacks the hardcore porn scenes that were added much later to the theatrical release. In this alternate version, the main flow of the story remains almost the same with only some scenes moved to a different part of the film and some either added, deleted or shortened.
The only extras that can be found on Disc One are the film's theatrical trailer, teaser trailer and the R-rated release trailer. Disc Two offers more compelling extras like three audio commentaries and a set of 12 deleted and alternate scenes from the Penthouse film vault. These newly found scenes lack any kind of audio and some are only in black and white. All the same, these scenes are quite important within the historical context of the film.
The first audio commentary and probably the best one here is by McDowell and moderated by award-winning filmmaker and record producer, Nick Redman. In this commentary track, McDowell comes across as quite chatty as he divulges many fascinating anecdotes and interesting behind-the-scenes information that gives the listener a good sense of how he came to star in the film and also what it was like to work with the many people involved with it. Redman is able to keep the pace of the commentary moving at quite a good clip, but eventually it sort of sputtered towards the end. The second commentary track has Mirren talking about her experience in making the film and is moderated by film critic and writers Alan Jones and James Chaffin. Aptly describing her overall experience as an acid trip, Mirren, like McDowell, is also able to describe some interesting background information about the film. The only knock against this commentary track is that there are instances of dead silence for an inordinate amount of time. The final commentary track involves on-set reporter and Penthouse magazine writer, Ernest Volkman and is moderated by entertainment writer Nathaniel Thompson. In his commentary, Volkman is able to provide some insights into the many issues that plagued the production of the movie and the nasty feud between Vidal, Guccione and Brass. All together, these three commentary tracks provide great background information on the making of this controversial film.
The bulk of the special features on this DVD set can be found on Disc Three. "The Making of Caligula" is separated into a 62-minute comprehensive documentary and also a scaled down 10-minute featurette. These two features seem to have been produced to promote the film back in the '70s and do not touch on any of the problems that were happening on set. "My Roman Holiday with John Steiner" features a pretty recent interview with Steiner (who plays Longinus) as he describes his career and how he became famous working in Italy. Next up is "Caligula's Pet: A Conversation with Lori Wagner," an interview with former Penthouse Pet, Lori Wagner, who talks about how she got started in modeling, her nude magazine spread and her revealing experience working on Caligula. In "Tinto Brass: The Orgy of Power," Brass is interviewed and he talks about his involvement with the film and his vision of what he wanted the film to be.
Next up, we have 15 behind-the-scenes clips taken from various scenes from the film, including video of some of the rehearsals. Also on this disc are galleries of color and black and white film stills and behind-the-scenes and promotional stills. Finally, there is a DVD-ROM-only feature that includes press kit notes and biographies of the film's cast and crew in PDF format.
The three DVDs are housed within an attractive Digipak package that fits inside a very nice slipcase with some great artwork. To top off this DVD set is a nice information-packed booklet detailing the history of the film.
Score: 10 out of 10
The Bottom Line
Believing that he is a god, Caligula lorded over his subjects like one. Like Caligula, pornographer Guccione had his own vision of what the final film should be and made sure it mirrored that vision, even if he had to fire his original director, Brass, quarrel and part ways with Vidal and re-shoot some very explicit scenes. In the end, Caligula essentially morphed into nothing more than a pornographic Guccione film, losing some of its original intent as envisioned by the respected Vidal. This new three-disc set is the definitive collection of this controversial epic. Anyone with an eye for film history or just curious about what the fuss was all about should do themselves a favor and go pick this edition up. Almost 30 years later, Caligula is still making waves and this latest royal treatment on DVD is a testament of its place in film history.
