Caligula

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  "I'm not even kidding. My favorite film of all time is Tinto

Brass' Caligula. With a movie that combines the qualities of a lush big budget studio Roman epic period piece, and the kind of exploitation that Joe Dimodo would frequently get sued over, there is no other large scale piece of high quality smut exploitation that I could possibly choose over Bob Guccione's ode to paganism. This is fucking Caligula. A big budget mainstream porno film that screwed it's way into worldwide cinemas throughout the late 70s and early [[The Eighties 80s]]. A movie to satisfy the tastes of auidences craving the finest in beastiality, and the finest in Shakespearian actors."

  The Cinema Snob

  "Caligula' is sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it

is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty. Disgusted and unspeakably depressed, I walked out of the film after two hours of its 170-minute length. That was on Saturday night, as a line of hundreds of people stretched down Lincoln Ave., waiting to pay $7.50 apiece to become eyewitnesses to shame. . . . 'Caligula' is not good art, it is not good cinema, and it is not good porn. "This movie," said the lady at the drinking fountain, "is the worst piece of shit I have ever seen.""

  Roger Ebert

Love It or Hate It, never, in the history of the world, will there ever be another movie like Caligula. And never, in the history of this website, will there ever be a movie more difficult than Caligula to describe.

It all began with Gore Vidal writing a screenplay about the life of the infamous Roman Emperor Caligula based on an unproduced television mini-series by Roberto Rossellini. Though Vidal and Franco Rossellini (Roberto's nephew) originally only intended for it to be a modestly-budgeted historical drama; when they couldn't obtain funding they went to none other than the founder of Penthouse Magazine Bob Guccione. Guccione agreed to finance the film on two conditions: 1, that it would be tarted up into a lavish, flamboyant spectacle akin to the Sword and Sandal epics of the 50s; and 2, [[Hotter and Sexier that sex would be incorporated to promote the magazine]].

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, Tinto Brass, a relatively young Italian director who'd produced an artsy big budget progenitor to the Nazisploitation genre called Salon Kitty that Guccione had taken a shine to was made the head instead. 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.

From the start, Caligula was plagued by difficulties. According to Guccione in a 1980 Penthouse magazine interview, Vidal (whom Guccione called a "prodigious talent") 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."

Casting and logistical issues were problems. Uncomfortable with the sex and nudity in the script, the female lead Schneider quickly resigned from the film, to be replaced with Teresa as said earlier. It was 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 plagued by delays due to disagreements between Brass and Donati over Brass not using Donati's completed sets, as well as Brass and Guccione disagreeing over the sexual content of the film.

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."

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"), casting actual criminals as Roman senators, and using what Guccione considered "fat, ugly, and wrinkled old women" in the sex scenes instead of his Penthouse Pets. Guccione hired friend Giancarlo Lui to reedit 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; they shot and added hardcore scenes.

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). In 1981, Anneka Di Lorenzo, who played Messalina, 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 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.

So, just to recap, costume and set designer from Roman Period Epics, Director from Italian Exploitation films, Shakespearian actors, and an exectutive producer with a background in porn. Where else are you gonna see that?

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

It was used as the subject of The Cinema Snob's [[http://thecinemasnob.com/2010/08/16/caligula-part-i.aspx 100th episode]]. In his introduction to the review, Brad Jones cited it as his all-time favourite movie.

This film provides examples of:

crafted work of art.

characters played by Penthouse Pets were supposed to be Messalina (who would go onto marry Claudius) and Agrippina (mother of Nero).

slaves in his bath as his "little fishies". Most viewers would think it's just another one of those over the top sexploitation scenes put in to shock audiences. In actual fact most historians will tell you he did have something like that, and they where mostly little boys. So this is one case where the movie actually toned it down from the real thing.

guards was actually filmed, but left on the cutting room floor. Some hints as to Gemellus's sexual preferences remain in the film, but nothing that specifically identifies him as being gay.

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."

Tiberius and Caligula are, despite the copious amounts of sex acts taking place in the background, having a serious discussion about how the political system works in Rome. All of a sudden, Tiberius calls for "more conviction," which leads to a three minute long orgy scene with various reaction shots of Caligula and Tiberius interspersed. After said orgy is over and done with, Tiberius and Caligula carry on with their previous discussion as if nothing had happened.

mention making his horse Incitatus a senator, it's only after Caligula declares himself a god in front of the senate Longinus exclaims "he's mad!"

    • In fairness, the stuff Caligula had done until that point was

apparently less crazy than what Tiberus had been doing in his final years. Declaring himself a god was probably the first sign that he was truly delusional, as opposed to just being a tyrant.

reign and can't bear the fact Caligula will be the next emperor.

Malcolm Mcdowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O' Toole and Sir John Gielgud to feature unsimulated hardcore sex.

  • Euroshlock: Its writer was American, but its director, setting and

filming-location were Italian, and its actors were British. And its producer was American but of Italian descent. Therefore, it counts.

kind of boombastic classical music you except to see in a Roman period piece, and 70s Porn Music.

Pretorian guard.

The Queen

he's best buds with [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Arthur Hobson]].

of the same name and the narrator of Blackadder dubbed Macro's voice.

interpretation of Caligula, he suffers one of these following the death of Drusilla.

film's ending.

the streets in Rome.

scene that would have involved him anally raping Proculus. He eventually agreed to do it, just so long as Caligula was carrying out the rape with his fist rather than his dick (it isn't shown on-screen).

during its release, claimed to like this film.

  • Only Sane Man: Nerva seems to be both Tiberius's only real friend and

the only person who dares criticize his reign to his face. [[spoiler: It still doesn't stop him committing suicide.]]

Mirren, Peter O' Toole, and Sir John Gielgud. 

Druscilla dies of the fever.
  • Schizo Tech: Wow, they never taught us in history class that the Romans

had a giant wall/car/thing with lawnmower blades on the bottom that could move forwards and decapitate people buried up to their necks in the dirt in front of it!

  • Scenery Porn: Say what you will about what's happening in the film,

many of the sets are rather beautiful.

literal meaning]].

  • Take That: According to MalcolmMcDowell's commentary track on the

DVD, the scene where Caligula lines people up and has Gemellus identify the culprit who killed Tiberius, was a jab at Guccione who did something similar after one of the dancers shoved one of the Penthouse Pets.

    • Like wise, Tinto Brass used plain looking people in the orgy scenes

and deliberately shot the sexual footage as comical and softcore to spite Guccione. This backfired horribly.

  • The Starscream: Longinus. Macro is set up to be this early in the film,

but Caligula decides that he's too much of a potential liability and disposes of him.

sister.

  • Throw It In: After 'blessing' Proculus and Livia at their wedding

Malcolm McDowell ad-libbed [[spoiler: Caligula sticking a flower in Proculus's ass.]]

    • According to the audio commentary, Malcolm McDowell also

improvised kissing Macro to piss off that actor's boyfriend who was the producer.

fever he pukes into the camera.

    • Making matters worse, according to Malcolm McDowell it was real

vomit.

to a woman that Caligula likes the look of, he gets to [[spoiler:watch her get brutally raped by Caligula, and then gets Caligula's fist up his own anus]]. And following this humiliation, Caligula decides that he's a traitor because he's too honest -- and therefore a bad Roman -- and has him castrated, killed, and urinated upon by two prostitutes. In that order.

territory. The original introduction scene for Proculus had Caligula ordering him thrown into the path of the decapitation machine mentioned above, and he successfully climbed to the top of it and stopped the machine, earning him the adulation of the crowd, but also pissing off Caligula into later [[spoiler:raping his wife and fisting him on his wedding day]].

Something the IM Db Parental Guide makes sure to mark as "UNRATED VERY BLOODY DISTURBING.

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