There’s nothing like a sweaty Malcolm McDowell indulging in immoral behavior. Stanley Kubrick already knew this when he cast him in A Clockwork Orange. Tinto Brass bet on his dirty exploits Caligula from 1979 also on McDowell. But that wasn’t the main reason why the erotic historical drama developed into one of the scandal films par excellence.
Whether behind the scenes or in the dusty offices of the moral guardians – Caligula caused tempers to boil. This week the film returns to cinemas in a new version, the “Ultimate Cut”.
In Germany, Caligula was on the index for decades
McDowell plays Caligula, the young heir to the Roman throne who ascends to the throne of the empire after the death of his great-uncle. The popular saying about the decadent late Roman conditions is part of the story, which deals with the increasingly sadistic and all in all corrupt young emperor who drives the empire to the brink of ruin with his excesses.
Behind the scenes Caligula was a clash of tastes from the startwhich also complicates the idea of a true “original version” of the film a bit. The film was produced by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione, who basically hoped for a high-quality sex film with Hollywood stars. Legendary writer Gore Vidal was hired, but got into a dispute with director Tinto Brass (Salon Kitty), who promptly revised the homoerotically charged script.
But the publisher was also dissatisfied with Brass’ work because he refused to film more explicit sex scenes and neglected the Penthouse ladies in the orgy cast in the production. Brass was left out of the editing process. After filming ended, Guccione and a small crew sneaked onto the abandoned sets and had around 14 minutes of unsimulated sex scenes re-shot (via NYMag ). Out came one Film with Oscar-worthy sets, stars like Helen Mirren and Peter O’Toole and… porn scenes.
In Italy this version of Caligula was confiscated by the police because of its “obscenity”, in Australia it was banned and in Germany Caligula was on the list of media harmful to minors between 1982 and 2018.
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The Ultimate Cut of Caligula aims to restore the original vision of the film
What did Caligula look like before Bob Guccione’s intervention? The so-called Ultimate Cut is intended to answer this question. Caligula superfan and art historian Thomas Negovan was hired to review the original camera negatives. After all, there are said to be over 90 hours of footage from the shoot. From this he reconstructed a version that was said to be more in line with the vision of those involved, including Malcolm McDowell himself, who co-wrote the script without being credited.
This is different in Caligula: The Ultimate Cut
This new version of Caligula is 178 minutes longwhich is about 20 minutes longer than the theatrical version. According to Variety, the following has been changed:
So there is no real original version, but at least one that approximates the different ideas of Vidal and Brass and the cast.
Lead actor Malcolm McDowell explained: “The film is saved”
The new cut premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Malcolm McDowell was enthusiastic about the changes, as he revealed in an interview with Cinapse in September 2023:
It’s a little overwhelming. I really hated being attached to this film for so longalmost half a century. […] I know the performance I gave, it was never seen. I know Helen’s performance and it was never seen. I think she’s in 45 minutes of the movie now instead of 12 or whatever […]. The film is savedI mean, how many actors can rediscover a performance after 47 years? Whether Caligula will still change over time Reputation of an unrecognized masterpiece will be worked out, remains to be seen. The reviews are more merciful than when it was first launched. At that time, Roger Ebert left the performance after two hours. The late critic pope wrote indignantly in 1980:
Caligula is not good art, it is not good cinema and it is not good porn.
Now, many years later, we can say:
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut may be good art, may be good cinema, and is definitely not porn.
The Ultimate Cut opens in German cinemas on November 7th.