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Caligula [1979] (Imperial Edition)


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A mediocre film, now with extra nudity.
Review date: 2008-11-04 Rating: 6 out of 10

It's a film which could only have happened in the 1970's; Bob Guccione, owner of Penthouse magazine and flush with wealth after riding the sexual license of the preceding decade set out to remake himself into an artist. He certainly succeeded in creating a film which maintains a reputation thirty years on (and how many do that?), but what reputation? And did he create art? Not a chance.
On paper, Caligula has a lot going for it; the sets and visual design are sumptuous and must have cost a fortune and the casting is a list of a-class thesps including John Gielgud, Maccolm MacDowell and Peter O'Toole. The only thing that lets it down is that it really isn't a very good film. Guccione brought everything he'd learned from making porn movies to a big budget production and it shows. The script is wooden and the dialogue leaden; instead of any sort of insight into what made Caligula into the deranged dictator he was we instead get scene upon scene of bacchanalian excess with occasional moments of plot - for example, the decision to murder Caligula is a couple of lines in the middle of a 20-minute orgy scene. The quality of the scripting is such that if a washing machine repairman appeared with a 'large tool' and offered to Druscilla to 'clear her pipes' I wouldn't have been overly surprised.
Needless to say, historical accuracy is jettisonned to make room for plot-vital extra shots of ladies in the altogether.
It's common knowledge that the a-listers on the cast didn't know what they were getting themselves into and were unaware that Guccione was sneaking back onto set at night with some porn actors to film some explicit sex scenes which were then edited into the film later - the Imperial edition is the first UK release with these scenes inserted (as it were) and they really don't add much. I suppose if you have a thing for 70's Romano-porn they could be for you but at the end of the day, Caligula is little better than a curiousity. It's that film that John Gieldgud and Peter O'Toole were tricked into appearing with a lot of willies; it's all very pretty with great sets, but you won't want to watch it more than once unless your tastes are quite specialised.


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Reviews


The Imperial Edition
Review date: 2008-08-23 Rating: 8 out of 10

You cannot defend 'Caligula'. It is a monstrous epic of over excess in almost every way possible. Useless porn spliced into an already labyrinthine production, oppulent sets, brilliant ideas, twisted imagery, crazed camerawork, hysteria and madness. It's closest cousin - bizarrely - is Gibson's 'Passion' in the sense of it being a film you admire for its balls, but don't necessarily approve of. And yet, 'Caligula' is fascinating. Perverse for all the wrong reasons and yet - genuinely - bordering of maniacal, bloody insane genius. The fact that it fails so magnificently is fitting for the production. A weak-kneed, boring film would have been a disaster. Okay, 'Caligula' might veer towards boring in some places (usually involving the 'Penthouse pets') but it is also the stuff of cinematic legend, graced with some of the finest British actors of the time.

This version is similar to the US 'Imperial Edition' except you have an extra disc (and I presume it is the cut to pieces version, which is going to stay in the box and never see the light of day). Like the 'Imperial Edition' you get the full, uncensored version (with lots of hardcore porn - working in the boat orgy and in the pleasure palace of Tberius, but nowhere else) and a rough edit with different and extended takes and really badly filmed inserts of softcore porn, shot on a different film stock. This cut on the US disc has 2 commentaries by Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren. The track with McDowell is an absolute blast.

The disc of extras has various documentaries and interviews that veer from genuinely interesting to late 70's promotional blag.

I agree with Mark Kermode that there is 'a bloody good film somewhere in Caligula' - at least you have the opportunity (at long last) to judge for yourself and quite possibly enjoy one of the most controversial films ever made. Don't get me wrong, it's a piece of sh*t, but it still stands head and shoulders above the growing, disposable dung heap of contemporary cinema.

Uncut? Or Unfettered?
Review date: 2008-08-20 Rating: 6 out of 10

Ah, "Caligula"... Is it Hardcore drivel, or a highbrow masterpiece on a level with "I, Claudius"? (With Hardcore drivel inserted, of course). Whatever your opinion, it can only be surmised that all participants hadn't a clue what they were getting themselves into. The director(s), the actors, even the editors seem like innocents here; and the story behind it is one that can hardly be believed, in the context of the modern esteem "period" works are held.

Bob Guccione, Penthouse Scion and overall Peddler of Smut had dreams of producing something that would survive the ages and be held as a work of high regard (with hardcore bits in it). Hence, erotic director Tinto Brass was hired for the job - and somehow Guccione and Brass persuaded some of the greatest British Thesps of the period to sign on to acting in it. How? simple. NONE of them had any idea of what they had gotten themselves into. Had Brass been given Final Cut them perhaps their sensibilites wouldn't have been too scorched, but Guccione, horrified with the film that Brass had presented, locked the poor hack out of the editing room, re-cut the film with a blunt instrument (resembling a dirty spoon, most probably) and added many hardcore inserts. Hence, a Legend was born - a near-pornographic epic with John Gielgud in it. Only in America...

Over the years, the film has been presented in many truncated forms; in 1979 the BBFC massively cut the film down to 1 Hour 42 minutes from it's original 2 Hours 36 minutes. But now, for the first time in this country we can see the full film in all it's (smutty) glory. The set includes 4 discs - The original UK version, the uncut version and an "Alternate" version that is 2 Hours 33 Minutes long, but with the smut "covered up" by alternate camera angles and differing sequences and the like. The 4th disc is comprised by a lavish set of extras, such as interview, press notes etc. So, what's not to like? Even if such a film offends your "Stiff Upper Lip", at least you now have the option to actually SEE it. Thanks, BBFC!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Helen Mirren
Teresa Ann Savoy
Peter O'Toole
Malcolm McDowell
John Gielgud

Creators:
Malcolm McDowell (Primary Contributor)
Helen Mirren (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Arrow Films
Manufacturer: Arrow Films
EAN: 5027035004297
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2008-09-29
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 156 minutes
Language: English (Unknown)

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