Caligula: The Ultimate Cut

Let me start by saying that I had recently watched the original for the first time, ending up being shocked how bad it is, as majority of people. It was pointless, too porny, to vague.

However, this one here, shows how much editing is important, especially soundtrack and music in the film. The ambient is there, the plot is there, the arcs of the characters is there. All that while still having a unique and strong artistic form to it. I really enjoyed this movie, and can't point my finger why. However it was 3h of pure captivation and mind stimulation. I really do hope this becomes a trend and re-edits of famous disasters get a new life.

This is truly a lost opportunity. After a massive search, a film scholar tracked down all of the original film shot by director Tinto Brass, who is still alive, and he wante4d to work with Brass to finally make a director's cut.

Penthouse, which own the rights, changed management and the new management instead turned the footage over to some people with absolutely no background in film restoration. This new team said they wanted to restore the film to the intentions of Gore Vidal's script. The main problem with that is Tinto Brass was not filming Vidal's script as it was written, as he thought it was terrible. He and actor Malcolm McDowell reworked the script into something more of an art film.

The result of this restoration is that the scenes are finally in the right order but put together with with no sense of style or pacing. Tinto Brass envisioned lots of close up and fast editing, and completed about half of the film this way. Instead we get long takes that emphasize the lavish sets and obscure the action. It looks like a rough cut that is waiting for someone to add closeups and quicken the pace. A few individual scenes work much better in the original due to better editing.

Another drawback is the overly modern score, which doesn't reflect musical trends of the 1970s, when the film was shot.

On the plus side, all of the incongruous hardcore scenes shot by Penthouse chief Bob Guccione are gone. A more coherent performance by Malcolm McDowell can be seen, though at times some of the more manic takes might have worked better to emphasize his deteriorating mental state.

Caligula is a film with a storied history. What began as a sprawling historical epic saw much of the film land on the cutting room floor. In its place, a violent and pornographic cash-grab that bore little resemblance to the script by Gore Vidal. Though a box office success, thanks to the controversy surrounding the film, critics derided it, and the cast disowned it. Now, forty-four years later, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut intends to showcase the film's original vision-a riveting and complex historical drama showcasing the intoxicating allure of sexuality and power. The film runs nearly three hours, is entirely fascinating, and delivers a triumphant expose on how 'absolute power corrupts absolutely.' In an era of director's cuts and alternate versions, Caligula is a magnificent restoration with a triumphant zeal.

Full Review: Geek Vibes Nation.

They've recut Caligula. They could've made it shorter, but it's longer, clocking 3 hours. The point is, is it better? Surely it is, I mean everyone hated the original. There's still sex, blood and violence, but some of the OTT porn is gone and in fact I'm lead to believe that nothing from the original remains, this is all edited from scratch, from the original rushes, with additional CGI trickery to cover some of the many issues from the '79 version. Rome A. D. 37, a young Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) is a paranoid type. Protected by privilege and decadence, he's too much time on his hands. Time to fret about those who may try to harm him and time to sleep with his sister Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy). It's still not a particularly easy film to watch. Caligula is mocked by his aging and dying grandfather, the emperor Tiberius (Peter O'Toole) while he swims with dozens of naked people. He's a terrible role model, showing the impressionable youngster a world of vice. Considering this was panned due to its gratuitous sex scenes, this recut really doesn't fix that. It's clear that although most of the cast and crew disowned it, they knew what they were shooting. Caligula is hungry for power, hungry to see the back of the old guard like Nerva (John Gielgud). He see's what's coming, the sadistic nature of the powers that be and future of Rome. Not that we see an awful lot of Rome. This all largely takes place in carefully crafted mostly internal darkly lit sets. Which is probably just as well with the cast naked half the time. Wresting the emperors ring from his thought to be dead hand, Caligula finally tastes what he's been chasing, but is too cowardly to see the job through. That is left to the muscle, Macro (Guido Mannari). Setting forth a new era, hailed by the ominous early synth score. There's some arrestingly iconic shots for sure and McDowell conveys an entire world in that expressive face, but bloody hell this is still a slog. If it weren't for McDowell carrying this it would be excruciating. The best thing I can say about this is, watching McDowell's performance convey the power that begins to corse through Caligula. From his childlike cowardice to full blown corrupt madman, it's quite a transformation and he's quite mesmeric. For all its pomposity, there's some scenes that really ought to have been cut completely though. They serve little to the story but to shock. It shows no nuance at all, it's one very long decent into cinematic debauchery. Any film that reduces Helen Mirren (as Caesonia) into little more than yet another naked body, is pretty inexcusable. The only particularly likeable character is Longinus (John Steiner), he's the only one with anything close to a reasonable IQ. There's one shot, around the 2 and a half hour mark where he exchanges a quiet look with Chaerea (Paolo Bonacelli), as if to say, can you believe they're actually filming this!? So, is it an improvement? Well I can't recall much of its predecessor, it's been mercifully erased from memory, so yes. It's still indulgent though. Often dull. Occasionally shocking and seldom entertaining, but that doesn't make it a bad film. It doesn't make it a great film either, but it's better than mere porn it's excused of. I can't decide if I like it, it has too much of an air of foley, mimicking Caligula's. I don't hate it though and if you're so inclined it's worth a watch.

This is a superb work of film forensics, creating a version of the film with the narrative cohesion that the original release sorely lacked. Cutting all the gratuitous porn plays a major part in giving the film that narrative cohesion and allows Gore Vidal's political themes to take centrestage. The performances truly shine, with original actors' vocal performances restored instead of the over-dubs used for some characters- especially good for Teresa Ann Savoy. Helen Mirren is given considerably more screentime, which is very welcome, and Malcolm McDowell's performance is revealed as the Oscar-worthy performance we deserved to see in 1980. The new music is also a huge improvement on the 'found' score of 1980.

However there are three exclusions that I didn't like. One was the death of Proculus, which gave some closure to the unforgettable marriage violation scene - and is an extraordinary scene in itself. I think it could have remained without the gratuitous bit with the naked ladies. The second was the scene with Ennia on the bed being 'serviced' by her male companions- it was not entirely clear what service they were providing! A re-edit could make this clearer without becoming porn. The most seriously disappointing ommission for me though was the conclusion of John Gielgud's performance - when Nerva and Caligula share a powerful moment. Given this edit's aim of enhancing the performances, it seems very strange to rob Gielgud of any screetime, given how brief his role is. Perhaps the restorers thought this moment made Caligula look too mad too early but I think it's a vital moment for both characters, and is reflected later in the aforementioned, also cut, Proculus scene. For an 'ultimate' cut I think this scene needs to go back.

In any case I think this is an amazing feat of restoration bringing this extraordinary film much closer to the one Tinto Brass and Gore Vidal intended it to be.