Caligula

[The Lion King]

I've heard this is coming out on Blu-Ray, which I eagerly await and will buy as soon as it comes out. Here's my review of it (keep in mind that I do love this film very much, and am able to enjoy it immensely despite some of its faults).



The only reason I downloaded the uncut version of this film was just to see if what Roger Ebert said about it in one of my favourite reviews of his: "[Caligula is] sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty." was true, which is of course, not what he intended with his review and later said the film is invulnerable to criticism because people like me will want to see it. Also partly because I just love Malcolm McDowell.

The result? I, too, can't believe such talented and famous actors would allow themselves to appear in it. Unless they were being paid millions of dollars each for it, which is understandable, it's hard to believe they would participate in something potentially damaging to their careers.

The whole film doesn't seem like a film, but more like a play. The acting is quite good for a play, but for a movie...well, it just makes everything seem like a play.

As a fan of horror movies, I am willing to sit through and enjoy almost anything; incredibly graphic violence (here, a man's urinary tract being closed, as wine is poured down his throat, then stabbed in the stomach) and senseless, mindless, unbelievably explicit sex and orgy scenes if I know the end result is going to be art, or at least some form of art or expression. In Caligula, there is definitely lots of art to be seen, but the cinematography doesn't do the extravagant sets and costumes any justice whatsoever. The picture quality is often abysmal, the zooms and lazy editing makes the film quite hard to follow and often incredibly boring to watch and to quote a reviewer, it feels like it's been "photographed through a tub of vaseline". It's an insult to everyone that worked hard on the film to create these beautiful sets and costumes that from the 20 million dollar budget, they can't even bother to buy a decent camera to shoot it with.

Now, on to the acting. Malcolm McDowell (as Gaius Caligula Caesar) is fantastic here; nowhere near as good as his unforgettable performance as Alex Droog in A Clockwork Orange, but enough to make me sit through the film and enjoy it (he's in it most of the running time of 160 minutes). However, he rarely ever seems to be aware of his role here; he is not savagely brutish and scary like he was as Alex Droog, or as he is meant to be as Caligula who was savage and brutish, he seems pretty innocent for the entire duration, only occasionally doing something that would contribute to his role. Peter O'Toole's role as Tiberius is probably the best of the entire film. He stays true to his character, he's entertaining and interesting to watch, he's funny, and he's comfortable in the role he was put in. Teresa Ann Savoy's acting, as Drusilla, Caligula's sister who he often has sexual relations with (), is pretty standard, nothing particularly notable. Helen Mirren, who is a superb actor, even though she doesn't do anything all that notable, is still great here, although her talents aren't used to their full potential...which might actually be a good thing in a film like this.

The main problem with the film is that the producers (Bob Guccione of Penthouse, and Tinto Brass) seem to use "that's just what happened back then" as a defense mechanism to get away with absolutely anything they want in this film. While its graphic violence and sex and the way people are exploited as mere objects may be too much for some people, I believe it's worth it just to see Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole and Hellen Mirren's superb acting, and I have to admit, if you're a little bit sick (like me), you might...feel an odd sense of....something in some of the quite artistically done orgy scenes.



Has anyone else seen, liked, or hated this film? Opinions please!