Image Entertainment | Buy at Amazon | Review by Louis Fowler
How many films has Malcolm McDowell flaunted his penis in? I'm pretty sure I've seen his penis more than my own. Now that's an actor with balls, literally.
And lucky for us, his, along with the best extras and day players Rome has to offer, are all on full display in the notorious CALIGULA. Long regarded by other film critics as one of the worst films ever made, this new three-disc Imperial Edition, much to my chagrin, proves them wrong. It's a true undiscovered classic that's more misunderstood than anything else.
And it's full of penises.
Probably released due to ROME and 300's influence on moviegoers' current fascination with anything ancient Greek or Roman, CALIGULA is a genital warts and all look at the madness of a debauched emperor, happy to wallow in the opulent perversions that were easily attainable back in his day. From women stuffing eels in their vaginas to the seduction of a horse, it's all here, surprisingly tasteful and directed with actual class by Italian sex-maven Tinto Brass, with additional hardcore sex inserts directed with crass by the gold-chain-loving Bob Guccione. Now how much of all this is based on fact? After the giant wall-thing that acts as a lawn-mower-styled decapitator, I figured probably very little. Yes, it's based on a screenplay by Gore Vidal, but as the many docs about the making of the film show, very little was used. And probably that's a good thing – does the world really need another I, CLAUDIUS?
As with every role he takes, McDowell delivers an incredible performance, with his archetypical snide snottiness preening better than ever. Teresa Ann Savoy is his sister/lover, but she's pushed aside when Helen Mirren appears as Caligula's future wife, known as the "most promiscuous woman in Rome" and is immediately taken from behind. So yes, she earned her Oscar. But perhaps the most intriguing performance is by Peter O'Toole as a STD-ruined Tiberius Caesar his face ravaged with herpes and syphilis, stumbling in a drunken mess the only way O'Toole can. His "little fishies" and living sex statues show just how far he was from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and one bottle of Dewer's away from KING RALPH.
Three discs make up this Imperial Edition, with the first one a restored print of the unrated, uncensored film. This is the one you'll probably want to see. On the other hand, the second disc features the never before seen "pre-release" version of the film, which is also the boring version. With the exception of an insightful commentary by McDowell and Mirren, it's pretty disappointing. Even the deleted scenes, while showing the flamboyancy of the project, are still quite underwhelming. But the meat, so to speak, of the special features comes on disc three, with wholly insightful making-of docs and interviews with the way-lesser known members of the cast, as well as with director Brass. It's a Dionysian orgy of entertainment power at your fingertips and with more then one trip to the vomitorium.
The Emperor would be proud.
