Caligula (film)

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Caligula
Directed by Tinto Brass (later disowned)
Produced by Bob Guccione
Franco Rossellini
Written by Gore Vidal (later disowned)
Malcolm McDowell
Massolino D'Amico
Tinto Brass
(the latter three are all uncredited)
Starring Malcolm McDowell
John Gielgud
Peter O'Toole
Helen Mirren
Teresa Ann Savoy
Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Aram Khachaturyan
Bruno Nicholai (under the pseudonym of "Paul Clemente")
Distributed by Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (Italy)
Independent Artists (USA)
Release date(s) August 14, 1979 Italy
February 1, 1980 USA
Running time 210 Mins
(Workprint)
156 Mins (NTSC Speed)/150 Mins (PAL Speed)
(Unrated Version)
150 Mins
(Original Italian Release)
149 Mins
(UK 18 Version)
123 Mins
(Recut Italian Release)
105 Mins
(1981 R-rated Version)
102 Mins
(1999 R-rated version)
Language English, Italian
Budget $17,500,000 (initial) $22,000,000 (final)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Caligula is a 1979 film directed by Tinto Brass, with additional scenes filmed by Giancarlo Lui and Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. The film concerns the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Germanicus, better known as "Caligula". Caligula was written by Gore Vidal and co-financed by Penthouse magazine, and produced by Guccione and Franco Rossellini. It stars Malcolm McDowell as the Emperor. Caligula remains the only major motion picture to feature eminent film actors (Sir John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole, Malcolm McDowell, Dame Helen Mirren) in a film with graphic and explicit sex.[1] The tagline of the film reads, "What would you have done if you had been given absolute power of life and death over everybody else in the whole world?" [2]

Contents

[edit] Production

Gore Vidal developed a Caligula screenplay from Roberto Rossellini's unproduced television mini-series. Franco Rossellini (nephew of Roberto) and Vidal's original intent was to create a modestly budgeted historical drama. However, when the pair could not obtain financing, Vidal contacted media mogul and Penthouse founder and publisher Bob Guccione (Vidal had been a frequent contributor to Penthouse magazine). Guccione agreed to finance the project on two conditions: that the film would be transformed into a flamboyant, luxurious spectacle akin to Hollywood's sword and sandal epics of the 1950s and 1960s; and that sex would be added to the script in order to promote Guccione's magazine. Both Vidal and Rossellini agreed and the Caligula project was launched.

Federico Fellini's art director Danilo Donati was hired to build the expensive and complex sets and costumes. Renowned acting talent, including Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole and Sir John Gielgud were cast. Maria Schneider was originally cast as Caligula's doomed sister Drusilla, but later dropped out and was replaced by Teresa Ann Savoy. After Guccione was unable to come to an agreement with more established directors John Huston and Lina Wertmuller,[3] Tinto Brass, a relatively young Italian director, was selected by Guccione to direct the film. Guccione was impressed by Brass' previous work, the 1976 controversial film Salon Kitty, which fused explicit sex with a big budget historical drama. Caligula production was housed in Dear Studios, Rome, where the infamous Cleopatra was filmed thirteen years earlier. Shooting commenced in September 1976, with plans for a 1977 release.

However, from the start Caligula was plagued by difficulties. According to Guccione in a 1980 Penthouse magazine interview, Vidal (whom Guccione called a "prodigious talent") [4] started trouble with a Time magazine interview in which he called directors parasites living off writers, and that the director need only follow the directions as provided by the author of the screenplay. According to Guccione, an enraged Brass responded to Vidal's comments by throwing Vidal out of the studio. Guccione was forced to side with Brass, (whom he called "a megalomaniac") because "Gore's work was basically done and Tinto's work was about to begin." [5]

Casting and logistical issues were also a problem. Uncomfortable with the sex and nudity in the script, the female lead Schneider quickly resigned from the film. [6] It was also soon apparent to the filmmakers that the aggressive shooting schedule developed by the inexperienced Rossellini and Guccione was unrealistic for a film of such scope. Donati had to scrap some of his more elaborate original ideas for the sets and replace them with such surreal imagery as bizarre matte paintings, blacked-out areas, silk backdrops and curtains. This resulted in significant script changes, with Brass and the actors improvising scenes written to take place in entirely different locations, and sometimes shooting entirely new scenes (such as the frolicking scene that opens the film) in order to show progress while the incomplete or redone sets were unavailable. The production was also plagued by delays due to disagreements between Brass and Donati over Brass not using Donati's completed sets, [7] as well as Brass and Guccione disagreeing over the sexual content of the film.

Brass was similarly unhappy with Vidal's script. "It was the work of an aging arteriosclerotic. Vidal redid it five times, but it was still absurd." [8] With the help of McDowell, Brass rewrote some of the screenplay.

Malcolm McDowell as Caligula
Malcolm McDowell as Caligula

By the time the principal photography on Caligula had completed, Vidal (having a previous issue with his involvement in the infamous Myra Breckinridge) was concerned about being associated with such an out-of-control production. Fearing the film would turn out incoherent, Vidal distanced himself from the project. Of Vidal, Brass concluded, "If I ever really get mad at Gore Vidal, I'll publish his script." [9]

As the film entered post-production, Guccione took control of the film footage, fired Brass for running up huge costs (Guccione claims Brass shot enough film to "make the original version of Ben-Hur about 50 times over") [10], casting actual criminals as Roman senators, [11] and using what Guccione considered "fat, ugly, and wrinkled old women" [12] in the sex scenes instead of his Penthouse Pets. Guccione hired friend Giancarlo Lui to re-edit the film. Lui was instructed to refashion the film into something more in keeping with what Vidal had first scripted, while delivering the sexual content demanded by Guccione. In their most controversial move, the pair also shot extra scenes of hardcore sexual material [13] which would be used to replace scenes shot by Brass.

With much footage improvised and rewritten from the original draft of the film, Lui further scrambled, re-cut, and deleted scenes altogether. Many of the disturbing sexual images shot by Brass were removed, replaced by approximately six minutes of hardcore sex shot by Guccione and Lui. In the end, the final cut of the film had strayed far afield from what Brass had intended. Ironically, perhaps, it bore little resemblance to what Vidal had scripted as well.

In the unpleasant aftermath, both Brass and Vidal launched independent tirades against the film and lawsuits against Guccione, delaying the release of Caligula. Vidal, who was paid $200,000 for his script, agreed to drop his contractual claim for 10% of the film profits in exchange for having his name removed from the title of the film (original billing was to have been Gore Vidal's Caligula). [14] In 1981, Anneka Di Lorenzo, (aka Marjorie Lee Thoresen) the 1975 Penthouse Pet of The Year centerfold model who played Messalina, also sued Guccione, claiming that he damaged her career by using hardcore sexual scenes in the final cut of Caligula without her knowledge, thereby associating her unfairly with a pornographic film. After a protracted litigation, in 1990 a New York state court awarded her $60,000 in compensatory damages and $4,000,000 in punitive damages. On appeal, the punitive damages were determined to be not recoverable and the court vacated the award. [15]

In late 1979, three years after production began, Caligula made its debut.

[edit] Critical reaction

The film was panned by critics; Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, describing it as "sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash." Perhaps the most scathing comment to ever appear in one of Ebert's reviews is attributed to a third party: "This movie", said the lady in front of me at the drinking fountain, "is the worst piece of shit I have ever seen." This was also one of the few (if only) films Ebert ever walked out of; two hours into its 170 minute lentgh [sic]. [16] Reviewer Leonard Maltin said the film was little more than "chutzpah and six minutes of not-bad hardcore footage." [17] Newsweek magazine called Caligula "a two-and-one-half-hour cavalcade of depravity that seems to have been photographed through a tub of Vaseline." [18]

[edit] Multiple versions

Caligula was shown in various versions, including:

  • The UK version, running 149 minutes. Aside from removing seven minutes of explicit footage, the editors included some replacement shots, derived from Brass' principal shoot, as well as some remainder footage from Guccione's re-shoots. It seems that the alternate footage was inserted carelessly, resulting in glaring continuity errors (especially obvious during the Rape of Prolucus & Livia and the Temple of Isis scenes.) This version is currently out-of-print.
  • The rumored and infamous 210-minute unreleased version, shown in a private screening in Cannes, France (though not as part of the film festival). It might have been Russell Lloyd's (one of the original editors, before Giancarlo Lui took over the post-production) rough cut with a few reels of hardcore sex shot by Bob Guccione added in. No official copy of this version is believed to exist.
  • Guccione eventually authorized an R-rated cut released in 1981, 105 minutes long, which earned the film a wider distribution. In this version the hardcore, bloody and violent footage was either trimmed or replaced with yet another set of alternate shots and angles.
  • In 1984, Franco Rossellini, unhappy with Guccione's final edit of the film, re-edited an extended, pre-release print of Caligula, which may or may not have been the infamous 210 minute version. This new edition of the film, re-titled as Io, Caligola clocked in at 133 minutes and contained various minor scenes and shots not present in any other versions of the film, but the Italian censors had it cut down to only 86 minutes. However, after a public backlash, the film was restored to 123 minutes. The missing ten minutes are no doubt responsible for a few jump cuts that occur throughout the film. This version has been released on DVD, albeit available only in Italy.
  • When Io, Caligola was released on video, the distributor put back in some of the hardcore material shot by Guccione (it was deleted by Franco Rossellini) in order to boost the sales. This is the version that is currently available on DVD.
  • A second R-rated version was released in 1999. It was released straight to DVD and contained no alternate angles. Various shots simply repeated themselves (instead of using the different takes of scenes seen in the R-rated theatrical release), resulting in continuity problems. Otherwise, this version is based on the 1981 censored release. This DVD version ran a total of 102 minutes and was released with a red cover.
  • In 1999, the FilmFour channel, frustrated by the lack of any extended version of the film available in the UK (only the low quality 1981 censored version was still in print), released their own cut of Caligula, running approximately 143 minutes (the missing 13 minutes can be mostly attributed to the PAL overspeeding and time compression.) It was essentially the same as the 156 minute version, with most of Guccione's explicit sexual material removed, including a lesbian tryst and a handful of sexual inserts during the imperial bordello sequence.
  • A 150 minute Italian cut; it was basically a shortened version of the U.S. edition. It was eventually pulled out of release in favor of Franco Rossellini's re-edited version, but a briefly released VHS tape exists, though it is now out-of print. Raro Video announced that it would release a re-mastered edition of this cut on December 5, 2006, along with an interview by Tinto Brass, in which he would discuss for the first time where the editing of the film went wrong. This release never came to fruition as Raro Video's distributor backed out, and the company replaced it with a remastered print of Franco Rossellini's edit.
  • The uncut Twentieth Anniversary Edition DVD was refused classification in November 2005 by Australia's OFLC; effectively banning the film in its uncensored form (although a 102-minute version was passed with an R-rating in 2004). The OFLC deemed the film too sexually explicit to fall within the R18+ classification (despite sexually explicit mainstream films such as 9 Songs receiving this rating). The film could not be accommodated in the X classification (for explicit sex) as it contains depictions of violence (although a 143-minute version of the film had, in fact, been granted an X rating for video release in 1984, when the X rating had only just been introduced and still permitted depictions of violence; the 156-minute version was also passed with an X rating in January 1985).[19] Although the film's sexual content was permissible in the X category, the OFLC's classification guidelines unambiguously state "No depiction of violence, sexual violence, sexualised violence, or coercion is allowed in the category".[20]
  • In October, 2007 Image Entertainment released a 3-disc special edition known as the Imperial Edition. It features two cuts of the film, the 156-minute print and an alternate pre-release version which does not include the explicit sexual inserts added by Guccione. Both versions have been digitally remastered. Commentary tracks featuring McDowell and Mirren are included on the non-hardcore, pre-release version, and the DVD includes interviews with Tinto Brass, who discusses film's hectic production & botched editing; and Penthouse Pet Lori Wagner, who discusses the addition of the hardcore footage, including the lesbian sex scene in which she participated. DVD-ROM content includes Gore Vidal's original screenplay. Other extras include more than two hours of deleted and alternate footage. The DVD set was to carry a fourth disc with the film's complete musical soundtrack, but Penthouse later pulled the soundtrack, along with any mention of the music (and the people behind it) in the behind the scenes featurettes. The 156-minute and 102-minute versions will also be released separately in new collectible packaging. [21] The booklet included with the 3-disc set includes a discussion of the many different versions of the film, and states that a significant amount of footage remains unaccounted for; the notes include a plea to viewers to contact Image if they are in possession of any footage not included in the DVD set.

[edit] Cultural references

  • In 2004, a fake trailer for Gore Vidal's Caligula was produced by artist Francesco Vezzoli for an alleged remake as a promotion for Versace's new line of accessories. It was a parody, "ostensibly [promoting] a film about a mad Roman emperor who sleeps with his sister, executes his critics and presides over a crowd of ambisexual extras dressed only in the occasional accessory." The trailer features Courtney Love as Caligula, Benicio del Toro as Macro, as well as Helen Mirren (making a guest cameo) as Tiberius. Milla Jovovich and Gerard Butler also appear as Drusilla and Chaerea respectively. [22] The trailer screened worldwide, including a showing at New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art's 2006 Whitney Biennial. [23]
  • Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy used dialogue from the movie in their song Rise of the Tyrant from the same-named 2007 album:
    Caligula: I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night.
    Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man and therefore I am a god.
    I shall wait for the unanimous decision of the Senate, Claudius...
    Claudius: All those who say aye, say aye.
    Caligula: Aye... Aye!
    Senators: Aye! Aye! Aye!..
    Chaerea: He's a god now... [24]
  • Matthew Sweet used the same Caligula dialog on his album Altered Beast in 1993.[25]

[edit] Cast

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Salon Movies | Porn for thought
  2. ^ Caligola (1979) - Taglines
  3. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  4. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  5. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  6. ^ Will the Real Caligula Stand Up? - TIME
  7. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  8. ^ Will the Real Caligula Stand Up? - TIME
  9. ^ Will the Real Caligula Stand Up? - TIME
  10. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  11. ^ Porn Again
  12. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  13. ^ Porn Again
  14. ^ Bob Guccione Caligula Interview from Penthouse May 1980
  15. ^ Marjorie Lee Thoreson A/K/A Anneka Dilorenzo, Appellant-Respondent, V. Penthouse International, Ltd. And Robert C. Guccione, Respondents-Appellants
  16. ^ :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews :: Caligula (xhtml)
  17. ^ Salon Arts & Entertainment | Porn for thought
  18. ^ Porn Again
  19. ^ Refused-Classification.com's report on Caligula
  20. ^ OFLC Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games 2005 (PDF document)
  21. ^ Image Entertainment / Feature Film / Caligula (Imperial Edition)
  22. ^ artforum.com / DIARY
  23. ^ NY Times Advertisement
  24. ^ Arch Enemy | Interview | Lords Of Metal metal E-zine - Issue 73: september 2007
  25. ^ Rock-'N'-Roll Animal - TIME
  26. ^ [1]

[edit] External links