Caligula (1979)

Details the graphic and shocking, yet undeniably tragic story of Rome's most infamous Caesar, Gaius Germanicus Caligula.

Directors:

Tinto Brass, Bob Guccione (uncredited)

Writer:

Gore Vidal (adapted from an original screenplay by)

Stars:

Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Malcolm McDowell	...	Caligula
Teresa Ann Savoy	...	Drusilla
Guido Mannari	...	Macro
John Gielgud	...	Nerva
Peter O'Toole	...	Tiberius
Giancarlo Badessi	...	Claudius
Bruno Brive	...	Gemellus
Adriana Asti	...	Ennia
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Charicles
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Chaerea
John Steiner	...	Longinus
Mirella D'Angelo	...	Livia (as Mirella Dangelo)
Helen Mirren	...	Caesonia
Rick Parets	...	Mnester (as Richard Parets)
Paula Mitchell	...	Subura Singer

Storyline

The rise and fall of the notorious Roman Emperor Caligula, showing the violent methods that he employs to gain the throne, and the subsequent insanity of his reign - he gives his horse political office and humiliates and executes anyone who even slightly displeases him. He also sleeps with his sister, organises elaborate orgies and embarks on a fruitless invasion of Britain before meeting an appropriate end. There are various versions of the film, ranging from the heavily truncated 90-minute version to the legendary 160-minute hardcore version which leaves nothing to the imagination (though the hardcore scenes were inserted later and do not involve the main cast members).

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Plot Keywords:

unsimulated sex | vaginal penetration | masturbation | brutality | incestuous sex | 

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Taglines:

The most controversial film of the 20th century is now the most controversial film of the 21st century.

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy USA

Language:

Italian English

Release Date:

15 February 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Caligula

Filming Locations:

Dear Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$17,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,669, 19 September 1999, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$23,438,120

Company Credits

Production Co:

Penthouse Films International,Felix Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

156 min 102 min (R-rated) 123 min (recut) 148 min (re-release) 115 min (original)

Sound Mix:

Mono (original release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.95:1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A whopping $7.50 (seven dollars and fifty cents U.S.) was the first-run admission price at its US premiere, at the Penthouse East Theatre, New York City in 1980. Average prices of movie tickets back then were around $3.

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Goofs

The credits say "Cast in Order of Appearence," but due to the heavy editing after the "director's cut", they are completely wrong in subsequent versions. Some characters credited in the beginning appear around the end, and vice versa. For example, Proculus is introduced early in the film, yet he is the last billed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
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.

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Crazy Credits

Due to numerous pending lawsuits and settlements at the time of the film's release, no one is technically fully credited for writing and directing the finished film.

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Connections

References Fellini - Satyricon (1969)

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Soundtracks

Adagio Of Spartacus And Phrygia
Aram Khachaturyan

User Reviews

"A viper for the Roman people and a Phaethon for the world"

Maybe it helps to be familiar with the history, Art, and literature of the Ancient Rome because "Caligula" is surprisingly truthful adaptation of the chapter about Caligula in "The Lives Of The Twelve Caesars by C. Suetonius Tranquillus, the Roman Historian. If you read the chapter dedicated to Nero, you'll be even more shocked because Nero was always fascinated by his uncle Caligula (he was a son of Caligula's sister Agrippina who later became a wife of Claudius who adopted Nero and made him the heir for the title and the power of Roman Emperor). Anyway, Nero made Caligula his role model and managed to surpass his uncle's' notorious fame.

The movie is notoriously famous for the plentiful scenes of real sex, including incest, necrophilia, rape, and orgies. The movie also includes quite nasty and gruesome scenes of torture, executions, murders, and humiliations but all of the events have been documented in the historical documents that still exist.

I don't think of the movie as a masterpiece or even a good movie for all of its 2.5 hours. It actually reminds the life of real Caligula. In his childhood and youth, he was adored by Roman people and especially by the army and he was a promising young man. When he grew up as a heir to the cruel and suspicious Tiberius, he had to hide his feelings and go through many humiliations in order to survive. Shrewd Tiberius said about his adopted grandson that "never humankind knew the better slave and the worse ruler than Caligula" and that he was rearing "a viper for the Roman people and a Phaethon for the world."

When the young man finally received an access to the absolute power it had absolutely corrupted him. It is also known that soon after becoming head of Roman Empire, Caligula suffered an illness and as the result of it, he became incredibly nasty, cruel, and suspicious man who had indulged in the worst acts of debauchery, cruelty, and sadism. The movie follows this pattern. I still think that it is an interesting movie with very good actors. Not every day you can see porn with Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, Sir John Gielgud, and of course, Mr. Clockwork Orange himself, Malcolm McDowell.