"That's a nice-a donut."
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Caligula (1979)
Caligula is perhaps the most controversial, daring, obscene, and illicit "mainstream" movie in American history. If it were made and attempted to be theatrically released today, I imagine that ultra-right wing "family values" groups like the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family would probably spontaneously combust. In fact, it is truly a wonder how much "pornographic" material is in Caligula. Amazingly enough, it was actually a mild success upon its original release and may have earned more than $20 million domestically.
Though officially directed by Tinto Brass, Bob Guccione, the editor of Penthouse Magazine, was one of the film's producers and also filmed some of the scenes. This isn't just lightweight, softcore period-piece porn though, or Skinemax with a bigger budget. No, this movie actually includes some very, very explicit sexual content, nudity and violence. Some of the content is such that would most certainly be included in hardcore pornography today. To compare it to a somewhat more recent mainstream movie, Caligula makes Showgirls look like the Care Bears.
Caligula (Malcolm McDowell, perhaps best known as main character Alex in A Clockwork Orange) is a man during the ancient Roman Empire (circa 37-41 AD) who rises to emperor, and eventually wields godlike influence over Rome and its citizens. Caligula was a very lascivious fellow. He came to power through quite dubious means and engaged in many vulgar acts, including incest with his sister and other wretched excess. He was assassinated unmercifully after less than four years as the emperor. But the real stories told in Caligula focus on the orgies and bordellos that the man delighted himself in.
The acting, the story, the photography, the editing, and other components aren't that bad. Given the proper attention, and more professional treatment this could have made for a great picture. There are a number of relatively big actors in the movie, from Peter O'Toole to John Gielgud and Helen Mirren. And with pop icon Gore Vidal as the writer, the pedigree is definitely more reputable than your average smut. And the sex scenes are worthwhile... to an extent. Now, I'm not in favor of censorship and I don't believe in outlawing things solely because somebody doesn't like them or finds them offensive. But, clearly, there is zero artistic value in showing acts of penetration, urination, and several other -ations. These things weren't necessary to telling the story of Caligula. For whatever reason, they may be important to a story at times, but a good filmmaker knows when to cut and when to imply things, rather than being so explicit.
Note that there are several versions of the film out there. It has been released in severely edited R rated versions, in unrated form, and even a special three-and-a-half hour version that was screened just once at Cannes. In each case, you'll be watching a very flawed movie made for very selfish purposes. If you are watching it just for the "good parts", then you're really better off paying for actual porn. At least regular porn doesn't pretend to be anything else.
The Verdict: D+.
Michael Bentley 3:06 PM
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