Recommendations of the Editorial team
“Caligula” combined Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, John Gielgud and Peter O ‘Toole. A second “Ben Hur” could have been “Spartacus” if not. But the director was not called Wyler or Kubrick, but Tinto Brass, an erotic filmmaker.
And the history of the epic, which has come into the cinema in 1980 after almost four years of production, around an imperator that is based on his urge to draw sexual debauchery is as legendary as the strip itself. Brass and his producer, “penthouse” founder Bob Guccione, overturned with screenwriter Gore Vidal (how could you sign a common contract? Post-production was installed in the orgies without the knowledge of McDowell and the other stars (penetration, fellatio). “Caligula” was considered a disaster and “wicked film of all time”.
Although Brass received no “Alan Smithee” pseudonym, this new “Ultimate Cut” cut (178 minutes instead of 156) is also no longer listed as a director, but ashamed and awkward with “filming”. Brass is still alive, is 91, but an art historian named Thomas Negovan took over the 4K restoration. Porn is now out, more “character depths” (scenes of a bad mirren) are in there.
The committee material has no larger class
The original was photographed so carelessly, you could even see a dead fly tangled on the unnecessary camera lens. Has “Caligula” finally become a good film?
No. The committee material has no larger class. But who could also compare both versions? Who still has the original in mind? However, this attempt to rehabilitation describes an extremely rare process: the restored re-cut of a film that was unsuccessful, exceptionally not for the home theater, but for the screen. This was last granted Wolfgang Petersen with “Troja”, 17 years ago.