Big Budget Porn: Tinto Brass' Caligula
Written: Mar 17 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great campy fun
Cons: Mainstream viewers may be put off by the hardcore sex scenes
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| Mike_Bracken's Full Review: Caligula |
Caligula: Felix Cinematografica/ Penthouse Films
Rating: USA: Unrated/ Australia: R/ Finland: K-18
Oscar Wilde once said "nothing succeeds like excess", and while I’m a firm believer in overindulgence for the most part, I can’t help but imagine that Wilde might have changed his mind if he had to sit through Tinto Brass’ film Caligula.
Made in the late 70’s, and shrouded in secrecy prior to its release, Caligula is Penthouse Magazine publisher Bob Guccione’s attempt at making a grandiose, artistic porn film. And while it is grandiose and definitely pornographic, the artistic aspiration got lost somewhere in the shuffle. So, instead of seeing what could have been a gripping portrait of both Roman decadence and one of its most infamous emperor’s slow descent into madness, viewers are instead treated to something much rarer—a porno with a plot.
Caligula Caesar stands in the annals of history as one of the Roman Empire’s most famous Emperors (the only one more widely recognized would be Julius Caesar). Loved, at first, by the public, he quickly revealed his true colors and is widely remembered as one of the most cruel and evil rulers ever to control Rome (and looking back on most of Rome’s emperors, that’s saying something). Knowing this, it’s easy to see why someone would want to make a film detailing the events in his life—which is what screenwriter Gore Vidal set out to do. Unfortunately, differences in artistic vision between Vidal, director Brass, and Guccione would alter the film’s focus—shifting it from a bio-pic about the Emperor’s life and turning it into Guccione’s fantasy of what it must have been like to live in such a decadent and libertine time.
Caligula chronicles the rise of the young Emperor (played with a maniacal, over-the-top zeal by Malcolm McDowell: The Player, A Clockwork Orange, Time After Time) to power after the death of his great-grandfather, Tiberius (Peter O’Toole: Phantoms). Our hero is already a bit odd, carrying on an affair with his sister Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy). Soon though, the allure of absolute power overwhelms him and his true descent into madness begins. Caligula has family members and advisors murdered, forces the wives of his senators to work in a brothel of his own construction, sleeps with his horse, licks his dead sister’s naked corpse, declares himself a god, and rapes both a bride and groom at their wedding reception—all before meeting a bloody demise that seems inevitable from the start.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Caligula is the odd juxtaposition of disparate images. In any given scene, the viewer can see actors of the stature of McDowell, Helen Mirren (who plays Caesonia, Caligula’s wife), and Peter O’Toole surrounded by hordes of naked and copulating couples. Of course, the film’s stars weren’t around for the hardcore orgy scenes that occur several times in the film (that footage was filmed by Guccione with a gaggle of Penthouse pets and later intercut with actual film footage—all rather sloppily) but they are surrounded by far more full frontal nudity than has been seen in any big-budget production since.
Like everything else, the performances in Caligula are less than subtle. McDowell chews scenery like his name was William Shatner, as does O’Toole. Perhaps the only major cast member to show any restraint is Mirren, who essentially sleepwalks her way through the proceedings.
Tinto Brass’ direction is awful. The film is clearly beyond the scope of his admittedly limited abilities, and he makes it brutally apparent throughout. We’re treated to unnecessary and excessive zoom shots ala Lucio Fulci. In other scenes, the camera seems completely out of focus, as if the director’s unsure whether he should be filming the actors or the elaborate surroundings. The whole film reeks of ineptness, and, much like the society it was trying so desperately to portray, excess taken to the extreme.
Even by today’s standards, Caligula is a strong film guaranteed to offend the prudish and the squeamish. The Guccione sex scenes are as intense as most of your standard hardcore porn, with rampant fellatio (male/female, and homosexual) and actual sexual penetration featured throughout. The film also boasts some fine grue (although the gore FX aren’t as convincing as they should be) including a castration (with the penis fed to dogs), numerous decapitations, disemboweling, and so on. Gore and smut fans should be more than satisfied with this film.
While there can be no doubt that Caligula is a bad film (although not as bad as Showgirls), it’s also a movie that’s guaranteed to become one of my guilty pleasures. It’s hard not to like McDowell’s gratuitous performance as he capers around the film’s elaborate sets carrying on like a madman. Not to mention, any film that features such copious amounts of both nudity and bloodletting is bound to make my cult favorites list. Caligula succeeds in a way—sure, it’s not the powerful artistic film the creators set out to make, but it is exactly what it wants to portray: a full blown exercise in excess that demonstrates overindulgence often leads to failure. If you’re a fan of schlock cinema, Caligula should definitely be near the top of your "must rent" list…it’s so bad, it’s good.
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Mike Bracken
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